Evidence from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy and Spain reveals that social partners are closely involved in setting up national strategies to manage digital change in the world of work. Up to now, this has been a high-level affair and there are only a few collective agreements or
In July 2011, the Employers Association for Insurance Companies in Germany (AGV [1]) and the United Services Union (ver.di [2]) signed a new collective agreement for the insurance industry, affecting around 160,000 office employees. Negotiations were accompanied by several token strikes. According
The nature of the gender pay gap has been the subject of an intense debate in Germany. In November 2010, the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW Köln [1]) published the results of its analysis of the gender pay gap in 2008 for employees aged 15–65 (in German) [2]. The calculations from IW
An imminent shortage of skilled labour in certain professions was foreseen by the government and social partners in 2010. Rainer Bruederle, the former Federal Minister of Economics and Technology had, for example, suggested that companies could introduce a cash premium for foreign, skilled workers
Due to a decreasing population and an aging society, social partners, politicians and researchers are involved in continual debate about how to secure a steady supply of skilled labour and managerial staff for the German economy. For example, the Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Ursula
On 1 May 2011, freedom of movement granted to workers from EU-accession countries joining the union in 2004 took effect in Germany. This means that people from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary wanting to live and work in Germany now have free
On 31 March 2011, the German Federation of Chemicals Employers’ Associations (BAVC [1]) and the Mining, Chemicals and Energy Industrial Union (IG BCE [2]) reached a compromise on a new collective agreement. The agreement affects approximately 550,000 employees in around 1,900 establishments in the
On 1 February 2011, the Federal Employment Agency (BA [1]) reported that unemployment had risen by 0.7 percentage points to 7.9% in January 2011. However, when compared to the unemployment figures of the previous year, 270,000 fewer people were registered as unemployed. BA attributes the lower
In 2007, the statutory retirement age in Germany was increased from 65 to 67 years, as a response to an ageing society and the higher costs that will ultimately be borne by the public pension system (*DE0612039I* [1], *DE0702019I* [2]). When the legal changes were introduced, the federal government
In autumn 2010, the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW [1]) conducted a survey (in German, 72Kb PDF) [2] of 1,800 companies. Among other questions, the survey asked firms to outline their business expectations for 2011. The results show that 55% of the businesses surveyed expect a rise in
The German Federation of Chemical Employers’ Associations (BAVC [1]) and the Mining, Chemicals and Energy Industrial Union (IG BCE [2]) signed their agreement (in German) [3] on working life and demography in April 2008. BAVC and IG BCE stressed that, as a result of the need to remain competitive