A large proportion of civil service employees would rather have shorter working hours than more pay, according to a new survey. If they had the choice, then 57 percent of the respondents would exchange the tariff salary increases to reduce their working time, according to a survey of the service trade union Ver.di. More than 210,000 civil servants and employers were involved in public-sector collective bargaining.
According to the survey, many would consider shortening weekly working hours: 60% of men and 55% of women advocate such conversion in favor of free time. Forty-five percent of them would rather have more days off and around 30 percent would like to have a time account to either go on vacation longer or retire earlier.
(Read an analysis of the desire for more free time here)
"In view of the cuts in staff numbers in recent years and the ever increasing burdens in the civil service, the desire for relief is clearly visible," said Ver.di CEO Frank Werneke. Verdi and the civil servants' association dbb are negotiating the tariffs in the public sector of federal and local governments this fall.