Fujitsu-Siemens Plans Longer Work Week

Europe’s leading maker of personal computers wants to extend working hours for its employees without any corresponding increase in pay, Fujitsu-Siemens chairman Bernd Bischoff said in a newspaper interview Monday. “It’s the only way we’ll be able to keep 5,000 jobs in Germany,” he told the daily Die Welt, pointing to increased competition in the PC sector. Currently, Fujitsu-Siemens’ German workforce puts in a 35-hour week in keeping with sector tariff agreements. However, a number of big German companies have recently negotiated longer hours for their employees, both with and without extra pay.