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
On 22 October 2008, representatives of the federal and state governments met in Dresden, in the eastern federal state of Saxony, to discuss future education policy in Germany. The ‘Education summit’ was opened by the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who called for more investment in education
On 3 September 2008, the employer association for the metal and electrical industry in Baden-Württemberg (Verband der Metall- und Elektorindustrie Baden-Württemberg, Südwestmetall [1]) and the German Metalworkers’ Union (Industriegewerkschaft Metall, IG Metall [2]) agreed on a new collective
The German company Vacuumschmelze (VAC [1]), headquartered in Hanau in the federal state of Hesse in central Germany, is a leading manufacturer of advanced magnetic materials. VAC employs around 1,500 staff. In a press release (in German, 22Kb PDF) [2] on 8 August 2008, the Chair of the company’s
On 28 August 2008, the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit, BA [1]) published its latest labour market report (in German, 1.2Mb PDF) [2]. The report shows that the number of unemployed people in Germany fell from 3,706,000 in August 2007 to 3,196,000 in August 2008. Compared with the
In April 2008, the United Services Union (Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, ver.di [1]) called for pay increases of 9.8% for 12 months affecting about 50,000 cabin and ground staff at Germany’s largest air carrier Deutsche Lufthansa. Ver.di also called for the further development of the existing
Corporate culture can be defined as the whole system of fundamental beliefs, norms and values that influence the effective behaviour of employees. Companies’ main challenge is how to make best use of their employees’ skills and abilities. In this context, many enterprises have already realised that
A recent study [1] by the Centre for European Economic Research (Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung, ZEW [2]) on developments in the high-technology sector in Germany in 2007 was published in May 2008. The study highlights the fact that a total of 248,000 new businesses were set up in 2007
The reason for the protracted collective bargaining negotiations in the railways sector is the rivalry between the German Engine Drivers’ Union’ (Gewerkschaft Deutscher Lokomotivführer, GDL [1]) and the other two trade unions in the sector – Transport, Service and Networks (Transport, Service und
On 20 February 2008, the federal government announced in a press statement (in German) [1] that the federal cabinet (Bundeskabinett [2]) had approved a draft bill providing for a general subsidy scheme for initial vocational training (/Ausbildungsbonus/). The bill will implement a temporary subsidy
The German Association for Motor Trades and Repair (Zentralverband deutsches Kraftfahrzeuggewerbe, ZDK [1]) estimates that 473,500 workers, including apprentices, were employed in the sector in 2006. Regional trade associations – also known as guilds (/Landesinnungen/) – have traditionally operated