How much do employees actually work in their home office? According to a non-representative survey by “Zeit Online”, in which readers were asked how much they really work, there were some comments from people who spoke openly about their rather lax attitude. The outlet said it had received around 300 responses.

Apparently little is done at the head office

One reader reported that she works more when she is in the office. “In the home office, two days a week, I basically don't work, I just log in and then leave the laptop on,” she says. In her work in municipal administration, it is useful that there is a certain level of protection in public administration.

Plus, he has a boss who “is not an expert.” Therefore, he could not estimate how long the employees' activities would take. Therefore, he may pretend that some tasks require a lot of time, even though they are not.

“False technical problems so they don't call me”

Another respondent, who works as a call center agent for a telecommunications company, would work, on average, about two hours less than he should each day. “Simply because I work from home and no one controls what I do between calls,” he admits. In his spare time, he was trying to build his own AI-powered agency.

In order to be able to quietly devote himself to his part-time job from home, he even has a plan: “I will fake technical problems so that they don't call me,” he said on “Zeit Online.” . She thinks it is unfair to give up her time for such a low salary. He only earns 1,600 euros net with the minimum wage and that is why he even has to live with his parents.

Do Germans work too little?

Just a few days ago, the German Finance Minister and leader of the FDP, Christian Lindner, indicated that very little work was being done in Germany. At the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, he said: “In Italy, in France and elsewhere, much more work is being done than here.”

According to Lindner, this is due to regulations on reduced working hours, demographics and also unwanted part-time work due to a lack of childcare options. Therefore, in addition to reducing bureaucracy and tax incentives for companies to invest, I would also advocate for reforms in the labor market.

In particular, Generation Z, the generation born between 1997 and 2012 and already in the labor market, has precise ideas about employers. Among other things, they don't want their work to affect their social life and they want to prioritize themselves. A 27-year-old woman quit three times in a short period of time because she was dissatisfied with her employers. She explained that the older generation should do the same and not “complain” as much.