What is different about Germany's work culture?

DW (English)

For newcomers and migrants, work culture in Germany is sometimes not so easy to navigate. What is important to know? What really counts? Euromaxx reporter Hannah Hummel answers these questions.

Transcript

00:00 Anna, it's 6pm, time to stop working.

00:02 I just have to finish a few things off.

00:04 No, no, you can do it tomorrow. Let's go home.

00:06 Did you ever stop to think that maybe the reason why Germans are so famous

00:11 for their work ethic and efficiency

00:13 is because they actually respect their working hours

00:16 and therefore their free time?

00:18 In my opinion, German working culture is actually pretty great.

00:22 Let me explain why.

00:23 Good salaries and flexible working hours are super important to Germans.

00:28 Salaries in Germany are typically higher than they are in the UK

00:31 or other European countries,

00:33 especially when it comes to public sector jobs like teaching.

00:37 Although this does of course depend on the sector that you're working in.

00:40 But talking about salary is still a difficult issue here.

00:44 Although there are hopes that this will change with a pay transparency law.

00:47 German bureaucracy is notorious

00:50 and the amount of paper used is astronomical.

00:53 The Germans print everything.

00:55 It's no wonder digitalisation is just limping along here.

00:58 The average German works for almost 40 years,

01:02 which is considerably higher than the European average.

01:06 The typical working day is 9 to 6 or 8 to 5.

01:09 The minimum amount of holiday is 20 days a year,

01:13 but most people get even more than 30.

01:15 You're fully expected to take all those days,

01:18 so you don't need to feel guilty or stressed about taking holiday.

01:21 The same goes for sick days.

01:25 You don't need to feel guilty about taking a day off work due to sickness

01:28 and nobody's going to ask you any questions.

01:30 You can normally have three days off before you need a doctor's note

01:33 and sick days are usually paid.

01:35 One thing office workers argue about most often

01:38 is whether to open or close the window.

01:41 Germans love fresh air at work.

01:43 OK, we need to talk about the gender pay gap.

01:47 Women earn on average per hour almost a fifth less than men.

01:51 Compared to the rest of Europe,

01:52 Germany has one of the highest gender pay gaps.

01:55 This is for multiple reasons.

01:57 Women are often more likely to work in part-time jobs,

02:00 work in lower paid jobs or negotiate less money.

02:03 Germany is actually one of the countries in Europe

02:06 where people work the least,

02:08 probably because they actually stick to their working hours.

02:11 But the desire for a better balance between gainful employment on the one hand

02:15 and private life on the other is definitely growing

02:18 and surveys show that more and more people

02:20 are feeling overwhelmed with their workload.

02:22 The Berlin Social Science Center is researching the issue.

02:26 And what is the younger generation's attitude toward work?

02:29 Is Gen Z really that work-shy?

02:31 Work researcher Lena Hipp can tell us.

02:34 I wouldn't say they are lazy.

02:37 I think they have somewhat different priorities.

02:40 They don't put paid work, employment above all else in the world.

02:47 And I think this can also have really beneficial elements.

02:50 If you think about democracy, people need to engage.

02:54 You also have to have time for raising kids,

02:58 for taking care of elderly people.

02:59 So I think there's also positive aspects of this.

03:02 And just because you don't want to work 40 hours plus

03:06 does not mean that you are a lazy person.

03:08 How has work culture in Germany actually developed over the last few years?

03:12 Twice as many people work from home nowadays

03:15 as they did in the time before the pandemic.

03:17 And of course this changes how people interact at the workplace,

03:21 how they organize meetings.

03:23 Overall, the labor market is doing pretty well.

03:26 It's easy for employees to find a new job.

03:29 Employers are looking for new personnel.

03:33 They are really having sometimes a hard time finding adequate employees.

03:39 And organizations try to fill this by attracting women,

03:44 in particular mothers, to join the labor force.

03:47 They also seek to attract workers from other countries

03:49 to fill these open positions.

03:51 All right, now you're all clued up on German working culture,

03:55 here's some vocab you need to know.

03:56 "Feierabend."

04:00 This directly translates to "celebratory evening,"

04:03 but it actually just means the end of the working day.

04:05 "Gehaltsfonds."

04:09 This is your salary request,

04:10 which is typically mandatory on job applications.

04:14 "Gleitseit."

04:15 "Flexi-time."

04:16 This means you have a fixed number of hours,

04:18 but you can choose more or less when you want to take them.

04:21 That's all we've got time for.

04:27 It's 6pm, which means it's Feierabend,

04:29 which often comes hand in hand with a Feierabend-Bier.

04:33 Personally, it took me some time to assimilate into the working culture here,

04:37 but now I really appreciate the work-life balance.

04:39 I appreciate the work-life balance.

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