Industry Leaders Suggest Vacation Cuts

As the debate over longer working hours gathers pace in Germany, industry leaders are increasingly urging Germans to cut back on their annual six-week vacation in the hope of helping to kick-start the economy. The president of the German Industry Association (BDI), Michael Rogowski on Thursday threw his weight behind a proposal by the Federation of German Wholesale and Foreign Trade that Germans in future should only take five weeks of vacation. "It wouldn't be unreasonable," said Rogowski and justified his stance by pointing out that German industry had "practically earned nothing" in the past two years on account of relatively high non-wage labor costs and low operating margins. Rogowski stressed that Germany was the worldwide leader with its 42 days of vacation and public holidays.