Porsche to cut working hours, maintain pay

Luxury sports carmaker Porsche, a unit of the German auto giant Volkswagen, said Thursday it will gradually trim working hours without any cuts in pay to attract highly-skilled workers. "Porsche is looking to improve competitiveness and attractiveness as an employer even further," the group said in a statement. Porsche's executive board and its works council had "agreed on appropriate measures for increased flexibility and productivity," the statement said. The group's more than 17,000 staff would therefore see their working hours cut gradually between now and mid-2013 from 35 hours to 34 hours "with full compensation," it said. "It is proving ever-more difficult to find well-educated people on the labour market. The demographic development is exacerbating this problem significantly. This is a major challenge not just for Porsche, but the entire German automotive industry," said Porsche chief executive Matthias Mueller. "Overall, higher flexibility and productivity will strengthen our competitiveness considerably," he argued.