The head of Gesamtmetall demands pension at 70 for office jobs
Factory Workers - work very hard according to Gesamtmetall-CEO Wolf. People with desk jobs - they can supposedly work until 70 in the office. And they should therefore be allowed to retire at 70. This proposal immediately triggered criticism from IG Metall.
Stefan Wolf, CEO of the employer association Gesamtmetall, considers people with desk jobs capable of working until 70. He made this clear in the SWR-Video podcast "Zur Sache - intensiv". "A factory worker who works very hard won't be able to work until 70, but someone who sits in an office can", he said. He thus confirmed earlier demands for a later retirement age.
IG Metall board member Hans-Jürgen Urban accused Wolf of ignorance regarding the burdens on employees in response: "There's a labor shortage, performance pressure, and harassment in offices as well. Many employees can't make it to the regular retirement age." Instead, he held the employers accountable: "The key lies in the specific working conditions in the companies."
The retirement age, at which insured individuals can receive a pension without deductions, will be gradually increased from 65 to 67 years by 2029. Wolf justified this demand in the SWR conversation with the competitiveness of Germany. To maintain this, more work must be done, not less, he said.
Therefore, he also rejects demands for a four-day week with full wage compensation. In the metal and electrical industry, the weekly working hours of 35 hours are already very low. They cannot be further reduced, he argued: "I'm not against a four-day week, I'm against reducing the weekly working hours." Gesamtmetall is the umbrella organization of the employer associations in the metal and electrical industry. In this sector, around 4 million employees work in Germany.
A recent survey commissioned by the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) showed that almost every third older earning worker wants to leave the job before the regular retirement age. According to the survey, 31% of those over 50 plan to do so. Asked what measures the employees would like to see to postpone their planned exit from working life, besides a higher salary (66.5%), they mentioned above all measures for more flexible working time arrangements.
IG Metall strongly criticized Stefan Wolf's proposal, suggesting that people in office jobs face similar challenges as factory workers, such as labor shortages and performance pressure. The Old-age insurance system could be impacted by this 'Rentapolitics', as more individuals may retire early due to these challenges, potentially straining resources for Rent. The Employers' Association Gesamtmetall, led by Wolf, argued against demands for a four-day work week with full wage compensation, citing existing low weekly working hours in the metal and electrical industry.
