The graphic showing the annual working hours broken down by region in Germany raises questions that are difficult to answer. While the distribution across large parts of Germany is almost uniform—North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, and Baden-Württemberg are comparable, as are Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate—the situation looks quite different in other parts of the country.

Nordfriesland – Anything but Relaxed

Nordfriesland leads the pack when it comes to working hours. There may be two reasons for this. First, the service sector, especially tourism, is a key pillar of Nordfriesland’s economy. Regardless of working time regulations, overtime is commonplace in this industry. Second, Nordfriesland is a recognized hub for renewable energy. This market segment is still relatively young and fosters numerous start-up companies. And “start-up” is nothing more than a synonym for unpaid overtime and table football in the break room.

Working Hours in Jena Also Raise Questions

For employees in Jena, it may be very pleasant that they have the shortest working hours in Germany—if they manage to complete their work during this time. Let’s take a closer look at Jena: The city boasts two renowned universities, companies like Schott and Carl Zeiss were founded here, and in 2022, 261 patents were registered per 100,000 inhabitants. By comparison, the national average in Germany was 45.

Jena also offers other intriguing labor market data. The proportion of highly qualified workers (university graduates) stands at 35.6%, compared to an average of 18% in major German cities. In research alone, 4,500 people are employed, including those in medical fields (all data on Jena from the local economic development agency). Research and patents are typically associated with above-average working hours.

Zeiss, with 3,000 employees in Jena, is one of the largest employers in the area. So what happens when such an employer reduces its standard weekly working hours to 35? It lowers the average for the entire city. This can lead to other companies following suit to remain attractive employers—especially amid a skilled labor shortage. For example, Jenoptik still had a 38-hour workweek as of February 2025 but is also aiming for a 35-hour week. Similarly, Schott abandoned the 40-hour workweek in 2024 and reduced weekly working hours to 38.5.

Decline in Overtime for Bankers?

Let’s also take a look at Frankfurt, the financial hub whose skyline is dominated by bank skyscrapers. Anyone familiar with the banking scene knows that overtime was once standard for most of the city’s 70,000 bank employees. This applied equally to branches, product managers, and marketing staff. While bank buildings were no longer brightly lit during evening hours, they were far from empty either. Weekly working hours are significantly higher than in Jena but fall well short of Nordfriesland’s levels.

Since the number of banking employees in Frankfurt is estimated to increase further, the apparent decline in overtime cannot be attributed to staff reductions within branch networks (source: fondsprofessionell.de).

Unclear Reasons for Regional Disparities

Ultimately, it is impossible to verify why these peculiar distributions exist. The reasons can only be inferred from regional labor environments. For instance, the outlier on our map in Rhineland-Palatinate can likely be attributed to BASF in Ludwigshafen and the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region.