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 Germany around 7.3 million people currently in paid employment have no vocational qualifications and are considered unskilled or low-skilled. Due to their lack of qualifications, these workers are at greater risk of becoming unemployed. At the same time, German companies are looking for qualified
During the recent collective bargaining round in Germany’s metal and electrical sector, four topics dominated the social partners’ agenda; wages, temporary agency work, apprentices and demographic change.
After a seven-year adjustment period, the German labour market was opened to Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovak and Slovenian workers on 1 May 2011. The new legislation enabled people from these countries to move freely to Germany to take up work and settle. As the first
When the global economic and financial crisis hit Germany, several labour market instruments helped to stabilise German employment. The measures mainly consisted of extending short-time working schemes (*DE0904039I* [1], *DE0909029I* [2]), reducing working hours saved up in employees’ working time
At the end of 2011, the Institute for Employment Research (IAB [1]) released its latest findings on the female employment situation in Germany (in German, 452Kb PDF) [2]. As earlier research has shown, career breaks play a major role in widening the gender pay gap [3]. They can also have a negative
In 2006, the then German government proposed gradually raising the statutory retirement age from 65 to 67 years. At the time, the coalition was made up of the conservative Christian Democratic Party (CDU [1]), its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU [2]), and its coalition partner
An ageing workforce and shortage of skilled labour in the chemical industry are of great concern to social partners within the sector. A company survey by the German Federation of Chemicals Employers’ Associations (BAVC [1]) highlights measures already being used to retain skilled workers. The
At the beginning of November 2011, a group of employers’ organisations presented new data on developments in vocational training in Germany. They had come together in 2004 to set up the Pact on Apprenticeships (/Ausbildungspakt/), designed to create more apprenticeship positions (*DE0407105F* [1]).
During the spring and summer of 2011, the United Services Union (ver.di [1]) called for the introduction of a minimum wage in Germany. Together with the Union of Food, Beverages, Tobacco, Hotel and Catering and Allied Workers (NGG [2]), ver.di advocates a minimum wage of €8.50. Ver.di Chair Frank
On 11 August 2011, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis [1]) released new youth unemployment figures (in German) [2]. They showed that in June 2011 the youth unemployment rate in Germany was 9.1%, with 430,000 young people aged between 15 and 24 out of work. This is higher than the average