In Germany, 3.8 million employed people aged 15 to 74 wanted to work less during 2025, while 1.5 million wanted to increase their number of working hours.

The number of those who would shorten their working hours was thus more than twice as high as the number of those who would extend them. This is shown by the first results of the 2025 Microcensus published by Germany’s Federal Statistical Office, Destatis.

The Microcensus is a large official survey that Germany conducts every year to obtain an overview of the lives of the population, including employment, education, family, income, housing, and migration. Around one percent of the population, selected at random, takes part in the survey, and their responses are statistically extrapolated to the whole country.

They want as much as ten and a half hours less

Employees who want to work less currently spend an average of 40.9 hours per week at work. On average, they would shorten their working hours by as much as 10.5 hours. Those who want to work more currently work an average of 26.2 hours, and they would also like an additional 10.5 hours per week.

Among employees who want shorter working hours, as many as 3.3 million work full-time, and half a million part-time. The situation is reversed among those who want more work. Of them, 1.1 million work part-time, while only 400,000 work full-time.

Overall, only 36 minutes less would be worked

The average working week in Germany amounted to 34.7 hours. If the wishes of all employees were fulfilled, working hours would decrease by only 36 minutes per week per person because the demands for less and more work partly cancel each other out. Respondents had to take into account that less work would also mean lower pay, and more work higher income.

Women more often want to shorten full-time work

Among employees with full-time jobs, 13.5 percent of women and 10.3 percent of men wanted to shorten their working week. Men who work full-time work an average of 41.1 hours, and women 39.6 hours. Among employees with part-time jobs, men would more often like to work more, 10.4 percent of them, compared with 7.4 percent of women.