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: crisis-hit industries cast shadow over 2026 bargaining cycle
In 2026, collective wage agreements for nearly 10 million employees in Germany are set to expire. With upcoming negotiations in crisis-hit 'pilot' sectors such as chemicals and metalworking, the...
2 December 2025
Germany: Erwin Hymer Group’s innovative and award-winning AI agreement
Fed up with negotiating separate agreements for each new artificial intelligence (AI) tool, the social partners at Erwin Hymer Group (8,900 employees) have instead secured a broad, overarching...
12 December 2025
Austria: European rules on wage transparency expected to cause a cultural shock
With the gender pay gap in Austria being the second largest in the European Union (18.3%), the Austrian government has promised to introduce a bill next spring to transpose the European directive...
27 November 2025
Germany: far-right-aligned ‘union’ sets sights on Volkswagen works councils
At next spring’s German works council elections, Zentrum – the 'alternative' union aligned with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party – will seek to strengthen its foothold in major...
9 December 2025
Latest articles by Thomas Schnee
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...
Germany: pioneering employee mental health project at mutual insurance group DEVK Versicherungen
‘Mental health: stop the taboo’ is the title of the corporate health management (CHM) project that the German mutual insurance group DEVK Versicherungen implemented in 2022, earning it a...
6 June 2023
Germany: ruling confirms lower wages for temporary workers
Germany's Federal Labour Court (BAG) has rejected a complaint brought by a temporary warehouse worker at a major clothing retailer, who was seeking pay equal to that of her colleagues on permanent...
5 June 2023
What you absolutely must read this week
The essential content of the week selected by the editorial team.
France: sectors feel economic slowdown to differing degrees
The latest data on France’s occupational sectors (branches professionnelles), covering the year 2023, show how employment trends are shaping workplace dynamics. After a more favourable period for...
19 December 2025
United Kingdom: Parliament finally passes Employment Rights Bill
The UK Labour government's flagship reform of employment rights was passed by both houses on 16 December after a turbulent parliamentary process. The bill introduces numerous changes to labour...
18 December 2025
EU: social partners in telecoms sign joint statement on AI
On 16 December, the social partners in Europe's telecommunications sector unveiled a joint statement on artificial intelligence. They propose an action plan for skills and commit to raising...
18 December 2025
EU: MEPs demand directive on algorithmic management
Members of the European Parliament have called for a directive on algorithmic management. Such legislation would introduce obligations for companies to inform employees, assess health and safety...
17 December 2025
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
EU: Commission proposes loosening of AI regulations
On 19 November, the European Commission published a proposal for an omnibus regulation aimed at simplifying the AI Act in order to ‘ensure the swift, smooth and proportionate implementation’ of...
2
EU: list of new CSRD reporting standards finalised
On 4 December, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) presented the revised list of reporting indicators under the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which...
3
EU: co-legislators strike agreement on Omnibus Directive
The European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached an agreement on the night of 8 December on the weakening of the directives on corporate sustainability reporting (CSRD) and corporate...
4
EU: Parliament formally adopts omnibus, diluting due diligence rules
On 16 December, the European Parliament formally approved the omnibus package amending the EU corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence directives. Their application has been pushed...
5
Italy: three executives from luxury goods group Tod’s investigated over worker exploitation
Italian authorities are once again turning their attention to working conditions in the luxury goods supply chain. On 20 November, the Milan public prosecutor charged three senior executives of...
- HR
- CSR
- News brief
28 November 2025
6
Fashion brands accused of violating trade union freedoms in Asia
On 27 November, Amnesty International released a report denouncing widespread violations of trade union freedoms in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka by both governments and suppliers to...
- HR
- CSR
- News brief
28 November 2025