Thomas Schnee
Correspondent in GermanyAs 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.
Expertise
As a correspondent in Berlin 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 world and labour market. My areas of interest include co-management, digitalisation, demographics and ESG/DEI policies.
Most read articles by Thomas Schnee
Germany: Employers’ representatives seek to limit the rights of works councils
The Employers' Federation of German Employers' Associations (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände - BDA) published a report at the end of September in which it proposes a...
8 October 2026
Is a global wage freeze at Volkswagen possible?
The existence of an option to implement a global wage freeze until 2030 has been confirmed by the management of the German group Volkswagen, which nevertheless provides no details and refers to...
20 October 2026
Germany: a negotiation timetable and the prospect of industrial action at Volkswagen
The news. On 23 October, the German carmaker Volkswagen and the trade union IG Metall announced the opening of negotiations on wages, the new cost-cutting programme and job cuts. They will take...
27 October 2026
Germany: non-EU recruitment remains marginal despite skilled immigration reform
The news. Nearly a year and a half after the entry into force of the “Skilled Immigration Development Act”, only 4% of businesses have recruited at least one employee directly from a...
28 October 2026
Latest articles by Thomas Schnee
Germany: Bayer details its ‘fundamental’ internal reorganisation programme
Bill Anderson, the new chief executive of German pharmaceutical and agrochemical conglomerate Bayer, has launched the Dynamic Shared Ownership programme in a bid to revitalise the company...
13 February 2024
Germany: record rise in new union memberships
Unions affiliated to the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) recorded a 37% increase in new memberships in 2023. This new impetus for the movement can be explained by the need for security in a...
12 February 2024
Germany: social partners take stand against the far right and in favour of immigration
Several employer and trade union organisations are mobilising against the rise of the far-right AfD party. The party plans to bring immigration to a halt if elected, at a time when the shortage of...
1 February 2024
Germany: SAP aims to revive employee appraisals with ‘Winning Culture’
The leadership of SAP, the German enterprise IT solutions producer, wants to restore its employees "taste for performance". To achieve this, it is negotiating the introduction of a "dynamic...
11 December 2023
Germany: IG Metall rejects company pensions without guaranteed returns
On 25 October, the delegates' assembly of the major German metalworkers' union IG Metall, which met in Frankfurt, decided to reject any future negotiations on company pensions without guaranteed...
27 October 2023
Germany: Lufthansa Technik (re)hires its experienced employees
The Senior Experts@LHT programme, launched in July 2023 by Lufthansa Technik, the maintenance subsidiary of the German airline group Lufthansa Group, seeks to prolong the working life of employees...
3 October 2023
Austria: the ‘Blocked’ progressive retirement model set to be abolished by 2029
On 13 September 2023, Austria’s ruling coalition (conservative ÖVP and Ecologist parties) voted on September abolish the ‘blocked progressive retirement’ model by 2029. Opponents, notably the...
Germany: Bosch launches the ‘My Bosch App’ to better include and involve production employees
The German multinational engineering and technology company has launched an in-house mobile app that can be downloaded onto employees’ personal smartphones. The aim is to include and involve the...
- HR
- News
7 September 2023
Germany: cabinet adopts bill aiming to integrate skilled foreign workers more quickly
On Wednesday 23 August, German cabinet adopted a bill to modernise and speed up the process for acquiring German nationality. The bill, which will now be examined by the Bundestag, follows on from...
28 August 2023
Germany: law passed to create ‘apprenticeship guarantee’ and ‘qualification allowance’
As part of its national strategy to attract and train a larger skilled workforce, and following the passing on Friday 23 June of its new law on economic immigration, the Bundestag also passed a...
26 June 2023
Germany: Bundestag passes law on immigration for skilled workers
On Friday 23 June, the Bundestag passed its much-awaited Immigration Act for Skilled Workers (Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz). The new legislation takes inspiration from the Canadian points-based...
23 June 2023
Germany: complaint filed against VW, BMW, & Mercedes Benz for breaching human rights due diligence obligations in Xinjiang
On 21 June the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) confirmed that it had filed a complaint against Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes Benz, accusing them of failing to exercise...
What you absolutely must read this week
The essential content of the week selected by the editorial team.
EU: several social texts promised for 2027
The news. On 4 November, the European Commission presented its work programme for 2027. While the focus is once again on simplification, several social texts have been announced. The European...
4 November 2026
France: a bill by the end of the year to transpose the European directive on platform workers
The qualified experts appointed by the French government in the framework of transposing the Directive on Platform Workers submitted their report on 2 November. It paves the way for a bill by the...
4 November 2026
EU: Council curbs the Commission’s proposed easing of social safeguards in digital legislation
The news. On 21 October 2026, the Council of the EU agreed its negotiating mandate on the Digital Omnibus, proposed by the Commission in November 2025 to ease several provisions in digital...
3 November 2026
Croatia: 7.6% minimum wage increase from 1 January 2027
The news. On 29 October, the Croatian Council of Ministers adopted a decree setting the minimum wage for 2027. This will rise from €1,050 to €1,130 gross per month from 1 January next...
3 November 2026
Most viewed articles of the month on mind HR
What readers clicked on the most last month.
What readers clicked on the most last month.
1
Living wage still struggles to align with social dialogue (study)
As part of its summer school on social dialogue, the ILO commissioned a study on the living wage. This concept, which takes workers' needs into account when determining wage levels and which major...
2
EU: Commission to launch a business coalition against modern slavery
The news. On 16 October, the European Commission presented a new strategy to combat human trafficking. While labour exploitation reported by the authorities rose by 17% between 2021-2022 and...
- HR
- CSR
- News brief
19 October 2026