The politicians’ (illegit) focus on the lack of productivity and working hours.

5 comments

1. The whole debate is pointless because it rests on the assumption that more working hours = higher productivity. 

   And while yes, more working hours can lead to higher productivity, the actual lever to increase productivity by a multitude is technology. 

   There is no point in all of Germany pulling 80-hour workweeks when other countries do the same work in 20 hours because they invest in digitalization. And yet, so many companies I come across still have paper-based working systems and whatnot. 

   It’s insane. 

2. You really shouldn’t take country level averages personally. 

   Of course they do not reflect your personal situation 

3. The whole labour policies section of the new government’s coalition agreement deserves extremely high levels scrutiny, because it’s frankly scandalous.

   What you point out is correct, but it goes even deeper. The planned abolition of the maximum daily working hours will worsen the already existing gendered care gap. It’s already the case that men work overtime more often than women, since women still take up most of the child care responsibilities and they simply can’t follow the male colleagues’ example of working more overtime with all the consequences this has for how they are perceived in a career ladder.

   Without the daily limit on working time, this already strong tendency will grow. Abolition of the daily working hour limit is bad for children, it’s bad for men, and it’s bad for women.

4. Well that’s easily explained through three great factors. New Germans were baited to come here with promises of an easy life. They aren’t going to buck as hard as the upper class would like, because that’s not the deal they were given. And why should they? They’ve got no emotional investment into this place.

   Add Gen Z being hella progressive / based in either direction, swearing off the corporate exploitative lifestyle. This Capitalist / Anti-natalist lifestyle is not what they were sold as young children, either. Especially not with this caustic job market – Working hard is financially poorly incentivized.

   And finally spice your base up with old experienced staff burning out as they pick up all the slack or just go into their well-deserved pension… you get a delicious “Disappointed Politician Pie”. Original recipe from the “Self-made Problems 101” cookbook.

   These politicians see their own easy future they themselves were promised fading. Promises made by their shadowy backers. Shadowy backers who tricked them through lobbyism into destroying a once-healthy economy (Germany).

   TL;DR – It’s not you – It’s everyone from every angle being sick of Big Gov’s shit.

   Whoever you are – Young native, new arrival or old rabbit – You’re right to feel betrayed. Let’s hope these suits get a taste of their own foul policies. Swindling people of any background into poor living conditions is decidedly evil.

5. Its a complety dishonest debate.

   1.) many even want to work more hours but can’t (e.g. women after the child has grown up enough to return to back to fulltime)

   2.) many want to work in better jobs, but got no option to do so. There are many hard working delivery drivers (or bicycle delivery drivers), people working in restaurants, bars etc. which would love to find a better paying job.

   3.) you can’t work endlessly. Especially in trades are jobs physically exhausting. It’s also rich if politicans who get driven to work complain about too few working hours, while average joe commutes by driving himself, has to buy his own groceries, needs to cook his own dinner after work (many got no access to a canteen – and everyday pizza delivery is not affordable nor healthy), clean up, etc. -> “Work” isn’t just “hours at the job”. We all got chores to do at home.

   4.) working more hours for what? As example: someone working 40h @ 15€/h would end up (after taxes etc.) with ~1820€/month. If you increase your hours to 45h/week you end up with ~2000€/month.
   The additional 180€ are nice – but not “lifechanging”. You still can’t afford a house. Those 180€ are good for “increased consumption” – e.g. a vacation, weekend trips, going to a bar, restaurant or cinema. A streaming abo or videogames. A sport club membership. Etc. But all of these spendings also require “time”. Which you now lack, because you work more hours. So there won’t be much improvement of quality of life, despite working more.

   5.) “Work efficiency” is mostly hindered by companies and overly strict company policies/regulations. Some companies insist on overly long specs – and you ofc need to charge them for that, too. I get that you need to be more careful in some technologies – but if you only do wastewater treatment, then you shouldn’t use standards which would even make a nuclear plant appear “simple”. Do we really have to hold huge meetings that often? Do we really need that much “managers”? Etc.

   6.) Many people are not given oppertunities by companies. A bicycle delivery driver might become a great electrican. If given the oppertunity. By my experience do many companies seem to seek the “perfect match” and are not willing to hire someone with a “bad CV”.
   Plenty of companies refuse to hire people with “hauptschulabluss” or without a school degree. So there is a relevant part of the population left behind – unused potential.
   Its also not only a problem on the lower skilled end. I got a HR friend who states that they won’t promote their own employees into leading roles to avoid conflicts – so they need to hire externals. If you don’t prepare an internal successor, then ofc you struggle to find a replacement for “demanding positions”. Is your company really full of idiots? Is there no internal intelligent enough to be trained to fill these positions? Or did they simply fail to prepare a successor in time and hoped to fill the vacancy by hiring “someone” (and then complain if its not that easy)?

   7.) People will half ass their job (aka: be unproductive) if they aren’t “valued”. Part of being “valued” is for sure pay. Which is often shitty. But its also “how do we get treated”. Which is – if we are honest here – also quite often problematic.

   8.) People with good ideas and intentions are often blocked. Suggestions to improve productivity etc. often get blocked with “we always did”. After a while people get frustrated and stop making suggestions. This is a systemic problem – we need to encourage improvements, suggestions.

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