Munich Re CEO calls for Germans to “get back to working”

Munich Re CEO Joachim Wenning has questioned whether Germany should remove some public holidays and increase its retirement age in order to strengthen the state’s international competitiveness.

Wenning, in an interview with German publication Süddeutsche Zeitung, said that Germans “must get back to working” to ensure the country can compete internationally.

"Why not simply remove a few public holidays? There's no reason why Bavaria needs significantly more holidays than Hamburg or Germany than many other countries," said Wenning.

Germany has nine official public holidays celebrated by all 16 federal states, albeit Bavaria has 13 with 10-12 per year across the other states. This compares to eight official public holidays for the Netherlands and UK, 10 for Belgium, and 11 for the US, France and Italy, according to international HR and payroll solutions provider Interfisc.

Wenning added that Germany should also extend citizens' maximum daily working hours to beyond 10.

It is understood Wenning made these comments in reference to exceptional cases, such as renewals season. At present, German working hours are capped at 48 hours per week, with the average working week between 36 and 40 hours.

The Munich Re CEO continued: “Why can't Germans retire later? They live longer too." At present, the German retirement age is 67 and life expectancy is 80.9 years.

Wenning made these comments as part of an interview that focused heavily on what he saw as a Germany “in decline”.

"Growth is decreasing. You encounter crumbling infrastructure daily in various places. The surplus of foreign investments is decreasing,” said Wenning.

German GDP growth has underperformed its G7 peers since the Covid-19 pandemic, including a brief economic recession in 2023.

From the final quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2024, German real-terms GDP grew by 0.3 percent, according to the UK Office for National Statistics. This lagged behind the next worst performer – the UK – which grew by 1.7 percent, while the US was the group’s best performer with growth of 8.7 percent.

Aside from adjustments to labour regulations, Wenning added that a wider range of what he called intelligent investments is crucial. This includes accepting higher debt albeit only in certain circumstances and with strict conditions.

Munich Re declined to comment.