German firms must cough up to attract and keep workers

German companies are so desperate to attract staff that they are falling over themselves to offer perks such as longer holidays, shorter hours, flexible shifts and sabbaticals, even though employees here already work the fewest hours in the developed world.

Last year, state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn, one of the country’s biggest employers, offered workers the choice of six days’ extra annual leave, a 2.6% pay rise or a onehour cut in the working week.

Of about 137 000 staff given the choice, 58% opted to add more holidays to the 28 to 30 days they already receive; 40% went for the pay rise and just 2% cut their weekly hours to 38 from the current 39.

“We have a big challenge of attracting employees and making them loyal to us,” Deutsche Bahn employment conditions head Sigrid Heudorf said.

“We have to think about what employees want.”

The preference for more holidays was particularly pronounced among women.

Germans work fewer hours than most, just 1 363 per worker in 2016, down from 1 452 in 2000, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

That compares with an average of 1 763 in the 35-member OECD, with US workers putting in 1 783 hours and Mexicans toiling hardest at 2 255 hours a year.

An unusually strong, sustained economic upswing combined with a shortage of people of working age has made

‘We have a big challenge of attracting employees and making them loyal’ Sigrid Heudorf Deutsche Bahn employment conditions head

firms more worried about attracting employees than in other leading economies, according to a survey by staffing firm ManpowerGroup.

More than half of German employers are struggling to hire employees versus a global average of 45%, with 82% of large firms reporting difficulty, the survey showed.

The hardest roles to fill are for skilled trades, engineers and in tech.

Deutsche Bahn needs to hire 19 000 workers this year to replace a wave of retiring baby boomers. –