Working in Brandenburg
In 2006, the standard weekly working time averaged 37.4 hours in Western Germany, but 38.9 hours in Eastern Germany. Still in 2006, over 45% of employees in Eastern Germany worked forty hours or more a week.
Standard weekly working time in Eastern and Western Germany
In Brandenburg, people work annually over eighty hours more than the national average. In no other German region is the workload higher than here.
Annual working time in Germany (2006 data)
Eastern Germany also has relatively long working times compared to other European countries.
International comparison of standard weekly working time
The weekly working time is nominally lower in Germany than in certain “old” EU countries and in the new EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe. However, the number of strike days is considerably higher in those countries.
International comparison of the annual strike and lockout days (per 1,000 employees)
From 1996 to 2005, for example, Hungary recorded an annual average of 15.8 days lost to strikes for every 1,000 employees; Romania lost 55.8 days, whilst Spain and Denmark even lost over 140 days.
In Germany, the number of working days lost to strikes during the same period averaged only 2.4 days annually - even less than in Switzerland. This underscores Germany’s sound social environment.
Sources: WSI, 2007; EUROSTAT, 2007; Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, 2007.