Mark Landler has a good profile of the man behind the reform commission in Germany in today’s New York Times. Peter Hartz comes across as a genial manager who believes he is doing what is best for German workers.
The government saved the hardest steps for last. The so-called Hartz
IV measures, which take effect in January, are intended to force the
chronically unemployed back into the labor force.Rather than
drawing long-term unemployment compensation, which can be up to 60
percent of a recipient’s original salary, they would receive only basic
welfare after 12 months out of work.In western Germany, this
amounts to 345 euros ($455) a month, plus extra money to help pay for
rent and utilities. In the east, where living costs are lower, it
amounts to 331 euros ($436) a month.Protesters marched every
Monday for weeks to press the government to rescind the rules. But
Chancellor Schröder stood firm, and economists say these will be the
most important measures in the whole package.Not that it has won
Mr. Hartz many friends. In a poll by the Stern newsmagazine last
September, 22 percent of Germans said they viewed him positively, while
43 percent viewed him negatively. Twenty percent were neutral. In
eastern Germany, he is even less popular.Despite all the complaints, Mr. Hartz is convinced that Germans have embraced the need for change.
"Germany
has woken up, and now it depends on the speed," he said, adding that
"because the other economies we compete with aren’t sleeping," Germany
must move quickly.
It is interesting to learn how Peter Hartz initially made a name for himself in German industry. It wasn’t through finding new innovations in technology or management techniques that increased top-line revenue. No, Hartz was able to eliminate 2,500 jobs at a steel mill, and that attracted the attention of Volkswagen. The rest – as we say – is history.
