According to statistics from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) of the Federal Employment Agency (BA), German industry is currently cutting nearly 10,000 jobs every month. To avoid outright redundancies, these job cuts are often made through the offer of early retirement. It is not uncommon, as at Volkswagen and Bayer, for those who take up the offer quickly to receive bonuses of tens of thousands of euros. The early retirement option, known as ‘retirement at 63’ – though in reality, this age is increasing with the gradual transition to a legal retirement age of 67, which will be reached by those born in 1965 and later – is also available to all employees with a full pension for those who have contributed for at least 45 years, or with a permanent reduction of 14.4% for those who have contributed for at least 35 years.
As a Berlin correspondent for the French and Swiss press since the late 1990s, I cover a wide range of economic, political and social issues, with a particular focus on the German business and labour market. My areas of interest include co-determination, digitalisation, demographics and ESG/DEI policies.