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.