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Photo: DPA

Shifts and nights replace nine-to-five for Germans

Published: 18 Feb 13 10:39 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/money/20130218-48029.html

Germans are increasingly working nights and shifts, leaving the treasured nine-to-five work model behind while one in four work at weekends, figures from the government show.

More than two million people in the country said they worked either regularly or always at weekends, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Monday, citing figures released in response to a parliamentary question.

And the number of people working shifts rose from 4.8 million in 2001 to six million in 2011, the figures said. Most shift workers are to be found in the healthcare professions, engineering and sales, the paper said.

The physical and psychological risks of working irregular hours are well known, and were even noted by the government along with its release of the numbers showing an increase in those working so.

The number of people working nights reached a high of 3.3 million in 2001, a level which had not previously been seen since 2008. Between 2001 and 2004 the figure was around 2.5 million.

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Nearly two million people - 1.92 million - worked for more than 48 hours a week during 2011. In 2001 just 1.56 million people worked so long, representing a growth of 23 percent over the decade. Teachers, engineers and managers were the most likely to be staying late at their place of work.

Karl Brenke, job market expert at the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin told the Süddeutsche Zeitung the growth of abnormal working times was down to a number of factors. Highly qualified managers were often expected to remain in the office long into the evenings, and to be available at weekends.

But shops were also open for longer, stretching the working day for workers, while competition among logistics firms has been leading to increased pressure for truck drivers to be available around the clock, he said.

Jutta Krellmann, spokeswoman for the leftwing party Linke, which submitted the written question, said the figures were alarming. "The psychological stress is a ticking time bomb in the working world and has to be stemmed," she said.

The Local/hc

What do you think? Leave your comment below.


Your comments about this article:

#1
14:50 February 18, 2013 by apple.kiddo
It is very sad to see that the German Government hasn't enforced tough laws on the firms when it comes to Shift work. I know people who have suffered this trauma and the health risks are immense.

I have colleagues who work in shifts and it is worse when they have to change their shifts on a weekly basis. For eg: A guy who gets up at 5 in the morning for a week, all of sudden starts getting up at 13:00 the next week and vice versa.

The law only says that there must be an 8 or 10 hours gap between the shifts and it never considers the biological clock which runs within a human being.

It is a shame that the firms and the government is all about maximizing their revenues. Sad to see that human beings are toys in the hands of the Rich firms who dictate their own rules.
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#2
13:28 February 19, 2013 by ELDUDERINO
I used to work shifts in my 20's - 12 hour nightshifts (8pm - 8am) for 4 days a week on, and then 4 off.

Then in my early 30s I worked shifts: 2 mornings, 2 evenings, 2 nights.

It's really only for young people. I noticed as I got older I was being more and more affected by working those patterns. Plus you don't get anything like the compensation you should for the antsocial hours.
Report abuse »
#3
18:04 February 20, 2013 by Englishted
@ELDUDERINO

True but doing them for a agency in your fifties is the pits.

I don't know what classifies as a shift either does starting a 5.30 am seem normal because it screws up any social life or even t.v. watching as you have to go to bed with the children.
Report abuse »
#4
18:32 February 22, 2013 by Wise Up!
Here's an idea: if you don't like your job - get a different one!!

This is the new globalization and if Germany wishes to remain competitive, it needs a flexible work force.

Other countries are doing it, Germany needs to do so as well.
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