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Demonstration by nursing staff: Many suffer from the permanent overload
Photo: Christian Knieps / picture alliance / dpa
According to a new survey, an increasing number of people in Germany are losing their desire to work.
Almost half of the employees (48 percent) would switch to part-time if their employer allowed it.
And 56 percent stated that they would quit work as soon as possible if they were not financially dependent on the job.
This was determined by the Yougov survey institute for an annual job study published by the insurer HDI in Hanover on Tuesday.
In June and July, the pollsters surveyed 3,891 employees aged 15 and over.
Before the start of the corona pandemic in 2019, only 41 percent said that they would prefer to stop working if they had sufficient finances.
More than three-quarters said they would welcome the introduction of the four-day week in their company, but a large majority would only do so if wages were fully compensated.
According to the survey, attachment to work is decreasing, especially among young employees: 58 percent of those under 25 said that they could not imagine life without a job - in 2020 it was 69 percent.
Both the client HDI and the Federal Employment Agency see the survey as evidence of the rapid change in the world of work: "It is not surprising that the requirements of companies as well as the expectations of employees of their working and everyday life are changing rapidly," said Torsten Withake, head of the North Rhine-Westphalian regional office of the Federal Employment Agency.
»According to the results of our study, young professionals in Germany in particular are striving vehemently for more freedom at work«, reported Christopher Lehmann, Head of HDI Germany.
Employees' expectations are in contrast to the demands of the labor market.
According to figures from the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB), there were 1.9 million vacancies in the second quarter of this year - more than at any time since the surveys began.
The personnel situation in hospitals and care facilities is tense, but there are also many vacancies in the trades and IT industry.
