Work-life balance and working hours: younger and older people's wishes hardly differ
According to the survey, 69.1 percent of those under 30 and 77.4 percent of those over 30 work five days a week. Most of them would like to move away from a full-time job, although there are no substantial differences between career starters and experienced employees.
A narrow majority of around 52% of both younger employees and employees aged 30 and over would like a four-day week. Around one in five - 21% and 18.3% respectively - would even like to work fewer than four days a week. At the same time, the proportion of those who would like to work more than before is higher among the under-30s.
In terms of working conditions, pay is the most important factor for most people, followed by the work-life balance and the meaningfulness of their work. The offer of company health management, the influence on the development of the company through their own ideas and suggestions and the freedom to choose where to work are rated as significantly less important.
However, young career starters under the age of 30 (44%) are twice as likely to be prepared to change jobs or employers in the next two years than employees aged 30 and over (22.2%).
In addition, almost two thirds of all respondents expressed a desire to retire before their normal retirement age. Here, too, there is no significant age difference. The majority of both the under-30s (62.8%) and the over-30s (66.5%) would prefer to retire earlier.
In both age groups, however, only a minority of 6.4% and 7% respectively can imagine working even longer than necessary. However, just over one in five - 30.8% and 26.4% respectively - want to work until the normal retirement age. The market research institute Kantar surveyed 3,000 employees subject to social insurance contributions in May and June.
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- Despite the slight difference in percentage, both younger and older employees in Berlin often express a wish to soften their working hours, with a narrow majority desiring a four-day week.
- Regarding retirement age, there's hardly any distinction between younger and older workers in Berlin, as around two-thirds of both groups wish to retire earlier than the normal retirement age.
- In terms of working hours: from a survey conducted in Berlin, both younger and older workers have similar wishes, with a significant percentage preferring to work fewer days per week or earlier than their retirement age.
- The working hours: older workers in Berlin rarely wish to extend their working hours beyond what's necessary, whereas younger workers share this sentiment, demonstrating a simple truth - work-life balance is important for all ages.
- Applying the principle of work-life balance, older employees in Berlin and their younger counterparts express a minor difference in their preferred number of working hours; both groups are largely eager to work fewer hours, from five days a week to four, or even less.
Source: www.stern.de
