Overview
- The Statistisches Bundesamt release published on Thursday, July 23, 2026, reports that 7.1% of roughly 30 million full-time workers usually worked 49 hours or more per week in 2025.
- Self-employed people bore the heaviest burden with 44.5% of self-employed with employees and 23.0% of solo self-employed working 49+ hours, while only 4.1% of full-time employees did so.
- Overlong hours rise with age and leadership role, increasing from 1.4% among 15–24-year-olds to 9.6% among 55–64-year-olds, and only 30.3% of leadership posts were held by women in 2025.
- The report also finds signs of employment insecurity: 4.9% of about 13 million part-time workers said their hours were a ‘not solution’ and 7.2% of employees aged 25+ were on fixed-term contracts with over half lasting under one year.
- The results highlight practical effects for workers and policy: many self-employed work evenings more often than employees, long hours concentrate pay and health risks in certain groups, and the fall in involuntary part-time since 2015 points to shifting pressures in the labour market.