Mechanical engineers “stunned” by the federal government

The coalition is struggling for reforms. The mechanical engineering association VDMA believes that this is far too hesitant. He accuses the federal government of endangering Germany as an industrial location with internal disputes and a backlog of reforms

Summit in Berlin Mechanical engineers “stunned” by the federal government As of: November 10, 2026 • 4:43 p.m

The coalition is struggling for reforms - far too hesitantly, says the mechanical engineering association VDMA. He accuses the federal government of endangering Germany as an industrial location with internal disputes and a backlog of reforms.

The mechanical engineering association VDMA accuses the federal government of being far too hesitant to implement reforms in Germany. “We are stunned by the disputes in this government that are blocking the urgent reforms,” said VDMA President Bertram Kawlath at the start of the mechanical engineering summit in Berlin. "Stunned by the whitewashing of so many government statements. Stunned by the visible decline of our location."

The result is that investments fail to materialize, bureaucracy continues to grow and social costs rise. Many companies asked themselves why they should still invest in Germany, said Kawlath. Every postponed investment and every failed reform weakens the location a little further.

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Kawlath particularly mentioned the "brakes" in the unions and in the government coalition, who prevented urgently needed reforms of the labor market. A study by the German Economic Institute (IW) for the VDMA shows that economic output could be 1.5 percent higher with one hour of extra work per week in just five years, he said.

Mechanical engineering summit: The industry's anger at politics Anke Hahn, RBB, tagesschau, Das Erste, November 10, 2026 • 5:00 p.m. Corporate investments would therefore increase by almost five percent during the period, according to Kawlath. In addition, after five years, around 120,000 additional people would be employed and the unemployment rate would be 0.2 percentage points lower. “So more work doesn’t mean fewer jobs,” said Kawlath. He called on the federal government to "immediately implement the necessary reforms in the labor market and also in the urgently needed reduction in bureaucracy."

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Reiche went on to say that we need to talk about the issue of protection against dismissal. She doesn’t forget the fears of employees. But at the moment a “very strong, rigid, immobile protection against dismissal” is hindering real changes. "If the economic situation is such that you have to separate, then it is a hard decision for the employees and also for the boss. But it first creates the basis for a company to continue and then grow again later." Rigid protection against dismissal also prevents new things from entering companies.

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