• Germany edition
Business & Money
Photo: DPA

German workers 'most loyal in Europe'

Published: 14 Oct 12 12:02 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/money/20121014-45553.html

German employees are more likely than other Europeans to remain loyal to their companies and to stay longer on the job, a new study finds.

The average length an employee in Germany stays at one company is 11 years, the newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported, citing a new study conducted by the Institute for Employee Research (IAB) in Nuremberg.

As the German job market has become more flexible over the past two decades, the number of workers with contracts for a fixed timeframe has doubled, according to the study.

“Still, job hopping is not a phenomenon that affects the majority of employers,” Thomas Rhein of the IAB told the paper.

Employees reportedly remain true to their companies because of good wages and opportunities for development.

The IAB has monitored average lengths of employment in German companies since 1992. Twenty years ago, the average was 10.3 years, according to the paper. The rate dropped as the economy changed in eastern Germany in the years after reunification, but has been on a steady rise since 2000.

Rhein told the paper that he expects the current rate of about 11 years to remain relatively stable. According to the report, in other European countries there is more willingness to switch companies.

DPA/The Local/mbw

What do you think? Leave your comment below.


Your comments about this article:

12:40 October 14, 2012 by keeps71
It's not loyalty - it's a mix of risk aversion (better to stay in a bad job and not risk being unemployed) and strict laws on firing them.
19:00 October 14, 2012 by Englishted
Then they repay that loyalty with employing all new starters on short term contracts or through agencies ,I would like to look into the future and see where current trends and greed will lead .
20:01 October 14, 2012 by joysonabraham
@keeps74

it means nothing what u said. This indicates less greed and aversion to unnecessary cutthroat competition, which helps to juice slaves and make you incompetent in every other sphere of life . Those who worked in cut throat environments know how bad it is and how it destroys your moral , your ideals, family life, everything. May be you like such stuff.
20:46 October 14, 2012 by gorongoza
"Employees reportedly remain true to their companies because of good wages and opportunities for development."

Mr reporter may you please list the names of the companies you say offer "good wages and opportunities for development." I can`t wait throwing in my applications.
22:00 October 14, 2012 by Berlin fuer alles
Where did this propaganda come from? As the old saying goes, statistics don't lie but liers use statistics. It would be interesting to see the geographical break down of this and what companies are involved and the breakdown of job types etc. A blanket survey like this tells nothing. Most likely it is just the result of downward spiralling wages causing workers with older work contracts to remain where they are instead of starting lower down the pay-scale elsewhere. In fact it is in bad times that people change jobs less and when there is an economic boom that employees switch jobs for better offers more often.
05:34 October 15, 2012 by honeybeee
German worker's working attitude seems so right , that's becase german worker union always keep good relationship with employers , that's really a good win win situation to keep things well going , as we all know between unions and employers, the German model also seeks to harmonize relations between regulatory bodies and affected parties . So just like German auto company Shaeffler AG , they have a very strong working union system between workers and boarders and keep good relationship, and schaeffler do give their workers high welfare and profit awards, just like they issue bonds for their german workers' , that deed is done only in the german and even rare in the whole European .
05:58 October 15, 2012 by rwk
11 years isn't that long. My grandfather drove a streetcar for 45 years. My other grandfather worked for the same brewery for 30 years. My father was a civil engineer for the state for 20 years. This was in America, the land of the fly-by-night employee.
08:23 October 15, 2012 by Berlin fuer alles
@Honeybeee

Which ministry of the German government do you work for then? If I want to hear a party political broadcast I will watch German TV at election time and filter out the ads. Wages are falling in real terms and new jobs are far less secure than existing jobs. This is the real reason behind these statistics. As always TL regurgitates a news story and gives the wrong impression. This 'news' needs to be analysed properly and the statistics broken down to show the real story. As I said in my earlier post above. Statistics never lie but liers use statistics. It is an old cliche.
08:51 October 15, 2012 by catjones
Another self-praise article; better than everyone else; works harder; saves more; always comparing themselves.

@Honeybeee...have you noticed the number and frequency of union strikes that cripple the country and screw the people? Part of that 'good relationship' eh?
09:20 October 15, 2012 by Karl_Berlin
@keeps71, summarised perfectly. Of all the Germans I have ever worked with, most have hated their job and only stayed in it because they don't want to start down the pecking order elsewhere. It is anything but loyalty in most cases, but instead out of pure fear.
09:32 October 15, 2012 by ChrisRea
Actually the title (German workers 'most loyal in Europe') is not accurate. The study cited makes no such claims. It actually points out that loyalty is higher in France (11.5 years) and Italy (11.2 years), Germany being at 10.8 years. And anyway, the study is far from including all European countries - it deals with only 6 European countries (Danemark, UK and Spain besides the already mentioned countries). Source: http://www.iab.de/de/informationsservice/presse/presseinformationen/kb1910.aspx

Interesting way of writing articles here at The Local.
15:19 October 15, 2012 by LecteurX
@ ChrisRea - Thanks for the link. I followed it and skimmed through the study myself. Yet, I can't understand your criticism of The Local based on this. For the sake of concision, they chose to write "German workers most loyal in Europe" and to omit "well, errr, possibly after French, Italian, Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Czech, Swiss, Russian, Hungarian, Irish, Latvian, Maltese, Greek, Ukranian, Austrian, Icelander, Bulgarian, Belgian, Turkish, Luxembourger, Finnish or Dutch workers".

I for one am totally fine with this way of writing articles at The Local. This is a great news websites, that totally has the readership it deserves btw. :-)
15:23 October 15, 2012 by Berlin fuer alles
Maybe it was just a typo and they meant the German workers are the most loyal in Germany.
21:45 October 15, 2012 by Karl_Berlin
Or maybe "German workers stick to what they have for fear of the unknown" was just too long a title....
17:41 October 16, 2012 by Major-Ji
Not only loyal worker but Germans have an other quality to follow the chosen leader with full devotion, loyalty and faithfulness. It is a very good quality and Germans should feel proud of it.
23:05 October 16, 2012 by herr_james
maybe it's in the interpretation. "german workers are most loyal in europe" is because as soon as they leave europe the workers get all loose, start turning up to work 5 mins late, wearing shorts and sandals with no socks.

germans do this when abroad (out of europe) because they know that work experience outside of europe (but germany, especially) will be totally irrelevant and ignored by future prospective employers.

OR maybe the reason that german workers are most loyal in europe is because they see so many bonuses coming their way from that display of loyalty. the cushy pensions, the bargain health and power charges, relaxing walks in safe, secure, dog-poo covered neighbourhoods. loyalty pays!

plus, they wanna look good to make sure they lock-in that mini-job for the first ten years of retirement.
ADD YOUR COMMENT   (YOU MUST LOG IN OR REGISTER TO MAKE A COMMENT)
Business & Money headlines
Photo: DPA

Economists warn against German euro exit

While a third of Germans would rather pay with the old Deutsche mark than the euro, economists warn that a German exit from the currency union would result in a disaster. READ () »

Photo: DPA

Germany cool to France's EU economy plan

Germany said Friday that French President Francois Hollande's proposal for a eurozone economic government was "interesting" but reacted coolly to his call for strengthened European budgetary powers. READ () »

Photo: DPA

Au pairs rules relax for non-German families

Foreign families will soon be able to officially engage au pairs from outside the European Union, as long as they speak German at home, as the government prepares to change the law. READ () »

Wolfgang Schäuble and his French counterpart Pierre Moscovici. Photo: DPA

Germany refuses to slam French economic policy

Germany will not publicly criticize France over economic policy, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble insisted on Thursday, amid differences between Berlin and Paris over growth versus austerity in battling the eurozone debt crisis. READ () »

Photo: DPA

Capri-Sun drink wins false advertising award

A German food industry watchdog singled out drinks-maker Capri-Sun for its annual advertising "award" on Thursday, for what the group described as "shameless" marketing of sugary drinks to children. READ () »

Photo: DPA

Anaemic economy feels winter chill

The German economy, Europe's biggest, clocked up anaemic growth at the start of 2013 as the freezing winter weather put the brakes on activity, official data showed on Wednesday. READ () »

Photo: DPA

ThyssenKrupp bins 3,000 admin jobs

German heavy industry giant ThyssenKrupp said on Wednesday it plans to axe 3,000 administrative jobs worldwide as disastrous investments in steel operations overseas tore holes in its balance sheet in the second quarter. READ () »

Photo: DPA

Pay deal for metal workers averts strike

Germany's powerful union IG Metall agreed a pay deal with the metal industry's employers association early Wednesday, averting the threat of a major strike. READ () »

Photo: DPA

First ever strike hits Amazon's German unit

German employees of Amazon staged their first-ever walkouts on Tuesday as the US internet retail giant was hit by a dispute over pay. READ () »

Photo: DPA

Volkswagen plans giant car plant in China

German auto giant Volkswagen will build a plant in central China, a spokesman said Tuesday, as it battles US rival General Motors to be the top foreign automaker in the world's biggest car market. READ () »

More Business & Money

See all ads | Join the Marketplace

Jobs in Germany, in English

727 jobs available
506 new jobs this week
1 new job today

ALL JOBS »

Latest Business & Money news from Sweden
News from the Goethe-Institut
News from DeutschlandOnline

Toytown Germany
Germany's English-speaking crowd
Trade CFDs with InterTrader.com
Start trading shares, equities, forex, etc. No commission on equities; Low min. margins. Apply for a CFDs account now!
Little house in Spain
'Charming, old, beamed cottage for holiday let in Jesus Pobre, Alicante, Spain
www.littlehouseinspain.com/
Albatross Insurance
Professional and qualified consultancy on all insurance and finance matters in Germany, Telephone: +49 2163 571 1740, Email: bg@albatross-assurance.com
www.albatross-assurance.com
Hotel reservations in Berlin
Visiting Berlin anytime soon? Book your hotel in Berlin here.
Rental apartments in Berlin
For home-from-home holiday accommodation, search for a Berlin apartment to rent.