Frustration at work: over eight hours a week of unnecessary tasks and meetings

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Around one working day per week is spent on unproductive activities in German offices, according to a survey by the job portal Stepstone. A total of 8.7 hours per working week are wasted on unproductive activities such as unnecessary meetings or redundant tasks. 58 percent of the employees surveyed also complained that overly complex processes in the company impaired their own work performance.

Overall, there also appears to be a great deal of dissatisfaction in the workforce: Almost half of all respondents were not satisfied with their employer – and over two thirds of those dissatisfied (68 percent) were actively looking for a new job. The feeling of not being able to use their own skills profitably is also widespread. This sentiment is particularly pronounced among IT professionals (46%) and employees in customer service (46%) – The average across all jobs is 45%. Around a third of these people (32%) also believe they could do more elsewhere.

Clearer communication desired

"If people can't use their working time wisely, it's a waste of precious time and valuable resources – especially when more people are leaving the job market than are coming in due to demographic change," commented Tobias Zimmermann, labor market expert at Stepstone, on the results.

To improve the situation, employees would above all like to see clearer communication from management – 46 percent would like this. 37% would like simpler processes, 30% would like more training and development opportunities and a quarter would like to see investment in better technologies and tools.

More workload, less productivity

According to the study, the biggest challenge for companies at the moment is finding candidates with the right skills for open jobs. 85 percent of employers cited this. And 76 percent would also see the lack of suitable people for open positions as the main reason for productivity losses.

Stepstone assumes a real vicious circle: If positions remain unfilled, this leads to an increased workload and more stress for employees. This often results in employees calling in sick more often, which in turn further reduces productivity and worsens the workplace culture. And that makes it even more difficult to retain talent in the company.

Increase in the number of sick days

One in four employees had left work in the past 12 months due to burnout or stress, the companies surveyed reported. Stepstone has also noticed an overall increase in the number of sick days over the last three years: German workers had taken 63 percent more sick days on average.

Over two thirds of companies (69 percent) also identified a lack of clear communication or leadership as a further problem. According to Stepstone, 5,800 German employees, 700 of whom were part-time, and 600 recruiters were surveyed online in September 2024 for the representative survey.

(axk)