Sunday Sessions and Stress Inoculation: Inside German Executives' Struggle with the 70-Hour Week
29.06.2026 - 13:59:12 | boerse-global.de
Six out of ten German employees face heightened pressure even before their annual leave begins, according to a survey released yesterday. The average worker logs eight extra hours preparing for vacation. Two-thirds remained reachable during last summerâs holiday.
That pre-vacation grind mirrors an even more punishing reality at the top. New reporting today details how senior executives such as Eon CEO Leonhard Birnbaum routinely clock 70-hour weeks. Birnbaumâs personal coping mechanism: reserve Sunday mornings for focused, uninterrupted work, dodging the daily deluge of meetings.
High-Level Burnout Has Systemic Costs
Birnbaum is far from alone. Commerzbankâs Bettina Orlopp, Hensoldt CEO Oliver Dörre, and Bearingpoint chief Iris Grewe all operate under similar pressure. It is not an isolated phenomenon but a structural feature of German corporate leadership.
Research from Boston Consulting Group links executive health directly to financial performance. A CEO-level burnout, the study concluded, can paralyse an entire organisation.
Christina Puello, who leads Deutsche Dienstrad, takes a different route. She deploys an AI assistant to streamline administrative tasks, freeing mental space for strategic decisions. The technology moves centre stage even as warnings multiply. At a Munich trade conference today, researcher Stuart Russell urged caution but also highlighted the enduring value of common sense when handling powerful AI systems.
Training Resilience Instead of Avoiding Stress
Volker Busch, a brain scientist who has run a stress clinic at the University Hospital Regensburg for 15 years, argues that resilience is not a fixed trait but a skill that can be built. He champions the concept of âstress inoculationââexposing oneself to controlled doses of pressure to strengthen psychological immunity.
A US study from 2025 lends further support: self-compassion, the research found, helps mitigate symptoms of overload. Yet younger managers, the same data show, particularly struggle. Feelings of being overwhelmed appear early in their careers.
Heat Records and Geopolitics Add to the Load
External forces are compounding workplace strain. Germany saw a record 41.5 degrees Celsius in Saxony-Anhalt on June 27, according to the German Weather Service. Transport and infrastructure suffered disruptionsâanother stressor for everyone.
Soaring prices for technology products, driven by higher memory-chip costs, and persistent geopolitical tensions have also tightened the screws across the economy.
Consultancies Pivot but Diversity Lags
The consulting industry is reshaping itself in response. Observers predict more selective growth this year. Regulated sectors such as energy and healthcare will keep demand high. Business models are transforming radically as AI redefines workflows.
Yet criticism persists. The share of women in consulting leadership positions remains below expectations, even as the sector scrambles to adapt to the new pressures of a 70-hour norm.
