Germans need to work longer and harder, Economy Minister Katherina Reiche has told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung national daily in remarks published on Saturday.
“Demographic change and increasing life expectancy make this unavoidable. Lifetime working must rise,” she said.
This debate has likely been instigated by Harry Stebbings, a Venture Capitalist, in a Linked post as he argued European startup founders shoul increase their work hours, embracing China’s brutal “996” work culture in Europe.
The “996” work culture - which means working 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week - reigns supreme in China and has been adopted by various tech giants including Jack Ma’s Alibaba and Bytedance’s TikTok, but the system has also been the subject of much protest in recent years.
There are no signs of such developments in Europe so far. In Europe, for example, many tech workers are turning down job offers, rejecting interviews, or even quitting their roles, upon learning of TikTok’s 996 work culture.
[Edit typo.]