It doesn’t seem to fit in with the shortage of skilled workers: According to their own estimates, full-time employees work 36 minutes less than twelve years ago. But statistics say otherwise.
A good half hour less per week: Employees feel that an average full-time job in Germany has become significantly shorter within twelve years. According to their own statements, full-time employees worked 40.0 hours per week last year, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office.
In 2010 it was 40.6 hours. In 2022, full-time women worked 39.2 hours a little less than men, who spent 40.4 hours a week on the job.
The perception of part-time jobs developed in the opposite direction with an increasing proportion. They were estimated to have increased from 18.4 hours in 2010 to 21.2 hours per week most recently. Here, the increase was slightly greater for women than for men. Last year women worked 21.7 hours in part-time jobs longer than men with 19.5 hours.
The information comes from the microcensus, in which the respondents provided their own information on the duration of their employment. Due to the two opposing trends in full and part-time work, the assumed weekly working time fell by 0.4 hours to 34.3 hours.
In the detailed working time statistics of the Institute for Labor Market and Vocational Research of the Employment Agency (IAB), however, people’s self-assessments are only partially reflected. The IAB figures are based on information from the companies and a large number of other data sources.
According to this, the collectively agreed or company-standard weekly working time for full-time workers even increased slightly from 38.06 to 38.20 hours between 2010 and 2022. However, the hours actually worked after vacation, illness and other influences fell by 4.7 percent to 1588 hours per year among full-time employees within twelve years.
Part-time working is increasing
According to IAB statistics, the trend towards more part-time work was confirmed. The agreed working hours increased on average from 16.10 to 18.06 hours, i.e. almost two hours more per week. According to the IAB, the annual number of hours worked by part-time workers increased by 5.9 percent to 756 hours.
In view of the results, the trade union Böckler Foundation called for full-time to be designed in such a way that it would be compatible with family care work. With 40.0 hours, there is still scope for reducing working hours, said the scientific director Bettina Kohlrausch. This is a prerequisite for increasing the employment of women, who still have to do most of the care work.
Source: Stern
