STUTTGART (dpa-AFX) - Mercedes-Benz boss Ola Källenius has criticized the idea of shorter working hours in Germany. Every political decision that could lead to a drop in productivity in this country would make the location less attractive, said the head of the car manufacturer at an event for business journalists in Stuttgart on Tuesday evening. Conversely, according to him, decisions would make the location more attractive if they made the labour market more flexible or created incentives to work longer or do overtime. This could be achieved through different taxation, for example. Compared to countries such as the USA, China or Switzerland, the number of net hours worked there is higher than in Germany.

The collective bargaining round for the metal and electrical industry is coming up in the fall. The weekly working time in one of the most important sectors in Germany is currently 35 hours. In the current wage dispute between Deutsche Bahn and the GDL, the reduction of weekly working hours in shift work is a sticking point./rwi/DP/stw