Sensible? “Otherwise you would fight fires with petrol”

Work only four days a week with a full salary? Employer President Dulger thinks that’s dangerous. His critics say he missed the boat.

Martin Schirdewan, chairman of the Left Party, indirectly criticizes employers’ president Rainer Dulger for his clear rejection of the four-day week. “A four-day week is a contemporary alternative for a better future in the world of work,” said the left boss t-online. “Anyone who doesn’t see the model as an alternative to the current day-to-day work has missed the boat.”

One of the reasons for this is demographic change: the fact that the baby boomer generation is now retiring is already a “difficult situation”. “But if we then work even less, the pension system in its current form will become unaffordable,” says Dulger.

Schirdewan clearly disagrees with Dulger. The current broad social debate shows that the idea has potential. Many model tests were run that made important contributions for practice. The shortage of skilled workers is not an argument against the four-day week. “On the contrary, otherwise you would fight fires with petrol. You can’t fight a shortage of skilled workers with even more working hours, you need an attractive working environment and more staff, including those from abroad.”

According to Schirdewan, the number of cases of burnout increased. “Politicians must not stand by and do nothing here. The four-day week model is a good tool to counteract this. The distribution of unpaid work in households would become more feasible.” Polls showed that up to 80 percent of workers welcomed the proposal.

It is clear from Schirdewan’s point of view that full wage and personnel compensation is required. The previous model projects have shown that productivity is not decreasing. The Working Hours Act must provide the framework, and the collective bargaining partners must negotiate the precise structure. “The goal must be that working hours fit life, everywhere and individually.”

The head of the powerful CDU business wing, Gitta Connemann, is appalled by the proposals for a four-day week. She says t-online: “The demand for a four-day week with full wage compensation comes at the absolute wrong time. Two million jobs cannot be filled in Germany. The lack of workers and skilled workers is the number 1 brake on growth.” The middle class is “no longer liquid”.

The CDU politician continued: “The four-day week would be devastating: Less work for the same wage makes products and services even more expensive. It is already possible today to work less and forego wages. Medium-sized companies in Germany urgently need flexibility and relief. The introduction of a rigid four-day week is the opposite of that.”