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Stihl proposals regarding German industrial crisis

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2026-09-06 12:22 UTC → 2026-09-07 06:04 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Stihl leadership has proposed increasing the standard weekly working hours from 35 to 40 without additional wage compensation. The company suggests this measure is necessary to reduce personnel costs and improve competitiveness during a period of economic stagnation and high energy prices. Nikolas Stihl, Chairman of the Advisory and Supervisory Boards at STIHL, has expanded on these concerns by warning of a persistent crisis in the German economy. He noted that Germany has lost approximately 15 percent of its industrial production over the last eight years and continues to lose roughly 15,000 industrial jobs per month. Stihl identified several domestic structural issues as primary drivers of this decline, including overregulation, high taxation, high energy and labor costs, and declining levels of education and professional qualifications. While acknowledging external pressures like US tariffs and geopolitical tensions, he emphasized that internal factors remain the main obstacles to growth and called for deep economic reforms. To combat the deepening structural crisis, Stihl has advocated for a broader suite of reforms. Beyond increasing the total work volume to fund the social welfare system, he suggested reducing bureaucracy, extending working lives, and attracting more skilled workers from abroad. He noted that while recent government reforms regarding health insurance and pensions are positive steps, they are insufficient to reverse the current economic trend.

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