Employer President Rainer Dulger thinks nothing of the four-day week. He sees the pension system at risk in the long term and therefore demands: “We all have to work longer.”
All over the country the four-day week is being discussed. Some companies have already reduced the weekly working time to 32 hours, and many of them report positive experiences. Pilot projects and research on the subject are being carried out internationally.
However, employer president Rainer Dulger does not believe in generally planning one day off per week. He refers to the tense economic situation in Germany. “Nothing gets better if we all work less. The four-day week you describe endangers our prosperity,” said Dulger in an interview with “T-Online”. On the contrary: The 59-year-old even advocates overtime in view of the demographic change in society.
Employer President Dulger fears for the pension system
“In view of the aging society, there is no way around it: we all have to work longer,” says the owner of the Heidelberg family company Prominent. “Otherwise the pension system will collapse.” Most recently, CDU politician Jens Spahn made the proposal to abolish pensions at 63. Dulger also points out that the baby boomer generation will soon be retiring and that “around 400,000 qualified workers per year” would then be missing.
“They will then change from contributors to contributors,” he told T-Online. “But if we then work even less, the pension system in its current form will become unaffordable.” The employer president therefore shows no sympathy for demands for reduced working hours. Working four days a week instead of five and getting the same pay would be a 20 percent pay rise, he argues. “We cannot afford this type of four-day week – also in view of the international location competition.”
Source:
Source: Stern
