German companies hone tools to defuse demographic time bomb

Wuppertal

FOR more than 130 years, Knipex, a family-owned company in western Germany, has made pliers for craftsmen around the world. Recently, it has developed a different set of tools to help it cope with an ageing workforce and skilled labour shortage.

The management toolkit includes above inflation wage rises, subsidised meals and an on-site nursery, as well as training for older workers to operate machines doing work that they used to do and flexible working conditions beyond the statutory minimum.

It shows how companies in Eu…