This won't happen. It's a deeply unpopular policy and the German Institute for Economics just told them in a friendly town to kill the idea before they choke on it. It was just a dumb suggestion with little bearing in reality
this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
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The goal of a functioning society is improving things for it's people. That means people working less, owning more, and generally having better lives.
Germany, and the world, needs to stop voting for people telling you that they want to make your life worse.
You know, not even a third of people voted for this guy.
He basically only became Bundeskanzler because 13,8, or over 1/8, of the votes didn't get any say at all. Also in first try, the Bundestag rejected to inaugurate him.
Basically noone wants him. But thats who we got now.
And yet he's in power. A system that promotes people who want nothing more than to enrich themselves and devastate their country and neighbors is not a functional system.
I only say this with the fear of Germany turning into the US over the next couple of decades. I would like this place to be my final home.
Also these guys: why nobody wants children anymore?
This is fake news. This is not a party decision yet, but a push from some individuals which created controversy inside of the union and broad outrage in the other parties.
CDU/CSU is so brain rot, encapsulating the boomer capitalist favouritism in a crystal form.
And still they win by large in elections.
Merz is personified ragebait.
Dear Chancellor Merz,
Go fuck yourself.
Sincerely, everyone
Get your lazy 42 working hour ass up and get a second job till you're 72. You lazy parasite.
Sincerely, Christoph Maria Merz
The legal maximum in Germany is 40 h, and a lot (the most?) sectors have union contracts with 35 - 37.5 h maximum work hours per week.
Just in case some reader doesn't know about German working hours. I don't know whether Merz knows, though.
When you reach a certain above rate (AT-außertariflich) pay level the contracts are a bit different. Your income is calculated by year and the contract states 40h work hours as standard and overtime already being passed for.
By law that (free) overtime is capped at 8h/week, so the work week is often in the 48h/week ball park. Any overtime above the 48 hours needs to be paid out or added to PTO.
In reality many employers consider 60+ hours / week as reasonable work schedule and won’t pay the 20+ extra hours since -according to contract- these hours have already been paid for.
Sometimes these are even billable hours, so your company earns good money from your work while they are lowering your hourly wage quite significantly.
People usually don’t ask for pay or return of that stolen life time. I know of this happening in rate-paid jobs as well, but I don’t know how wide spread it is.
And now comes Fotzenfritz trying to squeeze another million or two out of the poorest for his billionaire friends that are committing tax fraud by hundreds of millions yearly (on top of using mind-boggling loop holes to legally avoid hundreds of millions in due taxes).
Anyone who believes this shit should be forced to watch this: Wer liegt hier wem auf der Tasche? until they understand who is stealing our tax money.
I'm technically one of these "lifestyle" part-timers, at 35 instead of 40 hours a week. This reduction has had a noticeable impact on my mental health, to the point where I'd dare say my productivity hasn't changed one bit.
But let's be real: I cannot imagine that even Blackrockfritze believes that economic growth is determined by having longer working hours. This is a deliberate attempt to create another group of "lazy people" to lay the blame for the utter incompetence of his government.
Outsider but I remember people being unhappy with the Ampel coalition. I can't imagine anyone is preferring this really though are they?
I haven't seen any polling numbers lately though compared.
I work 30h a week and Merz can fuck off. I would be getting a similar amount of work done, not more, but have a lot less free time to do what I really want and is probably just as productive in many ways, but not in their too limited economic indicators. Sports, cleaning the house, meeting people, growing tomatoes, sleeping enough etc etc
During my Probezeit through Leasingfirma I used to work 35h weeks. This shit slaps! 6:30 in, 14:00 out! Can go for Termin, can get my other shit done. If needed, can look for another job and attend interviews or apartment checks.
Exactly. Truth is, most people have maybe 2-3 hours effective work hours a day.
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As an American dealing with elderly parents and work. It's not lifestyle. I burned myself out.
Under pressure to make changes to boost sluggish economic growth, the conservative has told voters their country’s prosperity will not be maintained “with a four-day week and work-life balance”. He recently effectively accused them of skiving by falsely calling in sick, criticising the relative ease with which sicknotes could be obtained from GPs over the phone.
Someone does not understand what productivity means and how it's meaningfully improved.
If you (you being the proverbial CDU brain here) need people to marginally increase their working hours, in order to achieve higher economic output, you're in deep trouble. The increased output is also marginal and a one time boost. If you want meaningfully higher economic output, with sustained growth, you have to use machines and automation to achieve more with the same work hours. In other words you gotta do productive capital investment. Unfortunately conservative brains can only think of the cheapest solution (for businesses) first, at the expense of workers quality and quantity of life.
following japanese new PM method, work til you drop dead.
Even that is just a one time boost. If the automation is done there is nothing to be done better. So to grow further people have to be fired or other sources of revenue have to be unlocked.
I still think, sustained growth is impossible in the long run.
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I love being told to work more by people that don't work at all i mean private jets all over the world, private chauffeur to wherever they need, a nice retirement and all the while getting paid probably 10 times more than me that will most likely die of hunger in a cold shitty house with no power after working constantly for the next 30-40 years...
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Sounds like some "work will set you free" type shit
No. Much different tone really. Weird association from you.
Leaking this proposal to the media on the day when Auschwitz was liberated is a bit on the nose.
Merz is famous for his sense of subtlety and decency.
german roots, arbeit macht fried.
Ah yes, the agenda of the Blackrock fanboy turbo capitalist minion.
Destroy social security nets to make people so desperate they will take any job at any conditions.
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wtf, why would you need a permission to work however long, wait a minute
the conservative has told voters their country’s prosperity will not be maintained “with a four-day week and work-life balance”. He recently effectively accused them of skiving
he was bitten by american ceo wasn't he? 🙃
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„If we whip them harder surely they will generate more profit for us masters!“
Kind reminder the Christ Democrats always hated human beings.
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Dammit people being able to work less is progress.
It's always the fault of the workers and not the leeches at the top taking every gain for themselves.
I hate every headline I read with his name in it. Disgusting.
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