Stihl chief urges 40-hour workweek without raises to shield Germany's economy

STIHL chair Nikolas Stihl argues Germany must raise the economy’s total work output to preserve prosperity, proposing a 40-hour workweek with no pay rise, overtime incentives, reduced red tape, and lower non-wage labor costs, plus stronger support for R&D and AI-driven innovation; he says current reforms don’t go far enough and warns that overregulation and high costs threaten Germany’s industrial base and welfare state unless productivity and investment rise.