According to this report on Fortune, Germany is suffering an epidemic of worker sickness.

German workers are taking sick leave at 4 times the rate of those in the UK: 19.4 days per year on average. This is undermining Germany's attempts to rebuild their economy, and employers are complaining.

Gone is the stoicism of earlier generations (or in the USA the valid fear of losing one's job from taking sick leave, and the exorbitant cost of health care). This can be seen from the changing nature of the "sicknesses" that workers are claiming, which are often not any physical illness but rather "mental health issues".

The problem seems to be very much worse for Gen Z workers. Bearing in mind that Gen Z is only part of the workforce, the costs to the economy of sickness will continue to rise as younger workers, with the same Gen Z attitude to work, replace older staff.

Not only does the level of sick leave impact productivity, but also causes direct costs to employers in Germany, where the employers pay for the first 6 weeks of any sick leave (health insurers only start to pay for sick leave after 6 weeks). Sickness cost Germany's economy about €26 billion last year.

It is clear that employers would like to see a change in Germany's employment regulations, but this will be a long and hard-fought battle.