Chainsaw maker STIHL chief calls for longer hours without extra pay
In an opinion piece for Euronews, Dr Nikolas Stihl, chairman of world-leading chainsaw maker STIHL, calls for reforms including a 40-hour working week without extra pay to safeguard Germany's prosperity and welfare state.
The family entrepreneur from Waiblingen in southern Germany does not mince his words: "The German economy has been stuck in crisis mode for years. The prerequisite for overcoming the persistent weakness in growth is better framework conditions," Stihl said.
STIHL: €5.48bn in revenue and more than 20,000 employees
In 2025, STIHL generated €5.48 billion in revenue and employed 20,246 people worldwide. Founded by Andreas Stihl in 1926, the company is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Nikolas Stihl is the founder's grandson.
Family businessman Stihl takes a long-term view, and for him one thing is clear: "The situation of the German economy is serious, very serious. In the past eight years we have lost around 15 percent of our industrial output. Month after month Germany is losing around 15,000 industrial jobs."
The industrial base, he warns, is at risk of eroding – and with it prosperity and the welfare state. According to the company, STIHL has been the world's best-selling chainsaw brand since 1971. Nikolas Stihl acknowledges that "the US tariffs, China's aggressive industrial policy and geopolitical tensions" are also weighing on companies like his. But he argues that it is mainly home-grown problems holding firms back: "an overregulated economy, high energy costs, high labour costs, high taxes and a declining level of education and qualifications."
The Government's planned reforms fall short
The federal government’s planned reforms – covering statutory health insurance, pensions, taxes and the labour market – are good compromises, but they do not go far enough to pull Germany out of its structural crisis. If these compromises were now to be "unpicked", it would have devastating consequences for business confidence in politics, the entrepreneur warns.
Stihl says: "Now we need to muster all our strength for further reforms that will then generate tangible investment and growth impulses. For that, the governing coalition and the social partners must overcome their own reservations in order to live up to their responsibility towards Germany."
The next steps, he argues, should include cutting red tape, increasing the overall volume of work in the economy, reducing labour costs and creating additional incentives for research and development.
Germans need to work more to preserve prosperity
Stihl is calling for "high-quality public administration" with clear rules, streamlined and swift procedures, reasonable reporting requirements, and processes that are digital and supported by AI. "Accordingly, statutory reporting requirements should generally be abolished and retained only where their necessity is explicitly justified. If public authorities act much more as service providers for citizens and companies, that increases trust in Germany as a business location and in politics."
For Stihl, the key issue is increasing the volume of work – in other words, Germans need to work more again: "If we want to maintain our prosperity and keep social benefits at a high level, the total volume of work in the economy has to increase. A higher volume of work boosts economic output. In that sense, the debate about more work is a debate about preserving our prosperity, and by no means a debate about employees being lazy."
40-hour week without pay rises
Germany must use every available option to increase the volume of work: by incentivising overtime, extending working lives with fair exceptions for physically demanding jobs, making better use of the existing labour pool – including unemployed and part-time workers – and attracting skilled workers from abroad.
Stihl also calls for sick pay to be paid only from the second day of sickness and for phone-in sick notes to be abolished. Productivity gains from digitalisation and the growing use of AI will not offset the negative effects of demographic change.
From October 206, collective bargaining talks in the metalworking and electrical industries are due to begin between trade unions and employers. Stihl warns: "We no longer have the productivity advantage over key competitors that used to justify our high labour costs. That is why I advocate increasing weekly working hours to 40, without any pay compensation.
Promoting AI, robotics, biotech, space and quantum technology
He acknowledges that he is asking a great deal of employees, but says he does not want to take anything away from anyone.
The aim, he insists, is to remain competitive, keep production in Germany and safeguard jobs. STIHL has production companies in eight countries, as well as 40 of its own sales and marketing subsidiaries and more than 50,000 specialist dealers worldwide.
When it comes to non-wage labour costs – including contributions to pension, health, long-term care and unemployment insurance – he says a ceiling of 40% of gross wages is the maximum that can be accepted.
Stihl is also calling for more attractive conditions for innovative companies, including regulatory breathing space, greater tax incentives and wider access to venture capital. "Overall, innovation and the granting of approvals must be given an even higher priority than at present and must not be held back by bureaucracy."
Future-focused fields such as the industrial use of artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, medical technology, space travel and quantum technologies should receive more targeted support.
'Germany has proved many times that it can reinvent itself'
The conclusion reached by the head of the world's leading chainsaw brand and a global technology company is clear: "We must not waste any more time, because only a high-performance and competitive business location can secure prosperity and a strong welfare state. Germany has proved many times that it can reinvent itself."
For the public to embrace the challenges ahead, "a ruthless stocktake of the current situation" is needed, followed by an overall plan setting out the changes people can expect. "The time has come to act with determination," says Nikolas Stihl.
Euroviews. Boss of STIHL: Time for reforms – this is how we will safe prosperity and welfare state
The German economy has been in crisis for years. Writes Nikolas Stihl in an OpEd für Euronews. Better business conditions are the key to breaking out of this stagnation. What’s at stake is nothing less than securing prosperity and welfare state. STIHL is the world’s best-selling chainsaw brand.
The state of the German economy is serious, very serious. Over the past eight years, we’ve lost approximately 15 percent of our industrial production. Month after month, Germany loses around 15,000 industrial jobs. And the industrial base that underpins our prosperity is starting to erode. Private net investment has fallen to almost zero. On balance, companies are doing nothing more than replacing what wears out. High costs are paralyzing companies’ willingness to invest. Even the special depreciation package (the “Investitionsbooster”) that the German government introduced in mid-2025 has done nothing to change that
Of course, US tariffs, China’s aggressive industrial policy, and geopolitical tensions weigh on investment too. But the real problems are of our own making: an overregulated economy, high energy costs, high labor costs, high taxes, and falling levels of education and skills.
Planned reforms are not enough to reverse the economic trend
At the beginning of the year, many entrepreneurs had almost lost faith in Germany’s ability to reform. In July, the German government surprised everyone with a reform of statutory health insurance, along with reform plans for pensions, taxes, and the labor market. This package isn’t enough to pull Germany out of its structural crisis. But the current coalition showed it can compromise to help move the country forward. If those compromises were now unpicked and watered down, the damage to business confidence in politics would be devastating. The planned reforms are still not the breakthrough we were hoping for, the one that would actually turn the economy around.
Right now, we need to put everything into the next round of reforms, the ones that deliver real momentum for investment and growth. And that means the governing coalition, employers, and unions all stepping outside their comfort zones to live up to their responsibility for Germany. The special funds for defense and infrastructure will hardly lead to a self-sustaining upswing in the economy unless conditions for doing business here improve noticeably. The next reform steps have to keep cutting bureaucracy, raise the total hours worked, bring labor costs down, and give companies real reasons to invest in research and development.
Public authorities should enable, not obstruct
What we should expect from public authorities is nothing less than high-quality administration: rules people can understand, procedures that are lean and fast, reporting requirements that are reasonable. Digital, and supported by artificial intelligence. Clear rules and fast, straightforward decisions should make investment possible, not hold it back.
The draft law presented by the new Baden-Württemberg state government on reducing reporting and documentation requirements could send an important signal. The principle is simple: statutory reporting obligations should be dropped across the board and only retained where their necessity is explicitly justified. If public authorities acted far more as service providers for people and businesses, it would strengthen confidence in Germany as a place to do business – and in politics too.
Increase hours worked
People working in industry are hugely dedicated, responsible, and highly professional. Without that commitment, German companies would not be succeeding the way they do around the world. STIHL is just one example among countless others.
But demographics are slowing the whole economy down and putting massive pressure on the welfare state. To protect our prosperity and to ensure high levels of social benefits, the total number of hours worked has to rise. More hours worked means more economic output. So the debate about working more is really a debate about holding on to what we have – and it is in no way a debate about employees being lazy.
Germany has to use every lever it has to get those hours up. Incentives to work more hours. A longer working life, with fair exceptions for physically demanding jobs. Better use of the labor we already have, meaning people out of work and people in part-time roles. Skilled immigration. No sick pay for the first day of illness. An end to doctor’s notes issued over the phone. Productivity gains from digitalization and AI won’t offset what demographics are doing to us.
Reduce labor costs
The collective bargaining round in the metal and electrical industry, which will begin in fall 2026, will be a key factor in determining whether Germany remains an industrial nation or falls further behind. The reason is simple: we no longer have the productivity edge over our main competitors that justifies those high labor costs. That’s why I’m calling for a 40-hour workweek – with no increase in pay. I know I’m asking a great deal of unions and employees. But I’m not trying to take anything away from anyone. Quite the opposite. I want industrial companies to be able to compete, production to stay in Germany, and jobs to be safe.
And the current debate pays far too little attention to non-wage labor costs. Contributions to pension, health, long-term care, and unemployment insurance should not go above 40 percent of gross wages. That is the economic limit. Getting there means overhauling the social security system from the ground up. The German government’s latest reform measures do at least address the stabilization of contribution rates for pension and statutory health insurance. However, the 40 percent limit has already been far exceeded.
Priority for research
The close links between world-class research institutions, universities, innovation clusters, and innovative companies rank among Germany’s greatest strengths as a business location. Give innovative companies better conditions and you speed up the whole chain: knowledge moves faster, and so does the production and marketing of what comes out of it, new business models included. Regulatory leeway would do that. So would higher tax incentives and more venture capital. Overall, innovations and the approvals they need must be given far greater priority than before, and they must not be held back by bureaucracy.
Future-oriented fields deserve far more targeted support: the industrial use of AI, robotics, biotechnology, medical technology, space technology, and quantum technologies. The Germany Fund, launched at the end of 2025, is only a start, measured against other countries with strong research bases.
Act decisively
We have no more time to lose. Because only a strong, competitive place to do business can secure prosperity and a strong welfare state.
Germany has shown many times that it can reinvent itself. But if people are going to understand what’s coming, we have to start with an unflinching look at where we actually stand. And then set out a plan they can follow, one that spells out what will change for them. With a plan like that, the government can give direction, bring people with it, and win back trust. It’s time to act.
Dr Nikolas Stihl is the grandson of the company’s founder, Andreas Stihl, and represents the third generation at the helm of the world’s leading chainsaw brand and a global technology company. Under his leadership, STIHL has further expanded its international presence and, in 2025, achieved a turnover of 5.48 billion euros with 20,246 employees worldwide. STIHL has been the world’s best-selling chainsaw brand since 1971.
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