Overview
- Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller proposes abolishing Easter Monday to help retain industrial jobs, arguing the day’s original religious observance has largely faded and Germany works fewer hours than key competitors.
- No concrete political process is underway, as public holidays are determined by the federal states and no Land has launched an initiative to remove one.
- Economists are split: Ifo’s Clemens Fuest and IW’s Michael Hüther endorse cutting at least one holiday as a modest step to boost output, while a Hans-Böckler-Stiftung study finds no evidence that scrapping holidays raises economic performance.
- Polling by Insa reported in spring shows most Germans are unwilling to give up public holidays in exchange for higher economic output.
- Providing company context, Trumpf posted a €23.4 million loss in 2024/25 after a prior-year profit, and the CEO calls for a renewed ‘concerted action’ among employers, unions and politics to discuss working-time models, flexibility and longer working lives.