Beschreibung

"Due to the demographic trend, in all probability the German labour force will be confronted with a radical change: The mean age is projected to rise and the number of people is expected to decline. Because of the extreme importance and strength of the demographic component it is possible to forecast this change even for the long run. The current discussion in Germany about the skills shortage includes the question as to how the labour force can be expanded. In the centre of this discussion are migration, a higher labour participation of women and a longer working lifetime. In contrast, the annual working time is not extensively being discussed. Although increasing the working time will not reverse the trend in the number of workers, it would perhaps stabilize the macro economically important volume of work. This article examines to which extent the working time can be increased and whether there are possibilities for any enlargement." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))