German companies are so desperate to attract staff that they are falling over themselves to offer perks such as long holidays, shorter hours, flexible shifts and sabbaticals.
This is despite the fact that German workers already work the fewest hours in the developed world.
Last year, state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn, one of the country's biggest employers, offered workers a choice between six days extra annual leave, a 2.6% pay rise or a one hour cut in the working week.
Of around 137,000 staff given the choice, 58% opted to add more holiday to the 28 to 30 days they already receive, 40% went for the pay rise and just 2% cut their weekly hours to 38 from the current 39.
The preference for more holiday was particularly pronounced among women, who account for just 23% of Bahn employees, up from 22% in 2012. It is targeting 25% by 2020.
Germans work fewer hours than most, just 1,363 per worker in 2016, down from 1,452 in 2000, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
That compares to an average of 1,763 in the 35-member OECD, with US workers putting in 1,783 hours and Mexicans toiling hardest - 2,255 hours a year.
An unusually strong, sustained economic upswing combined with a shortage of people of working age has made German firms more worried about attracting employees than in other leading economies, according to a survey by staffing firm ManpowerGroup.
More than half of German employers are struggling to hire employees versus a global average of 45%, with 82% of large firms reporting difficulty, the survey showed.
The hardest roles to fill are for skilled trades, engineers and in tech.
Europe's largest telecoms company Deutsche Telekom agreed in April to give workers at its main German operating units 14 days extra days off in lieu of an earlier agreed two-hour reduction in the work week to 36 hours.
Vacancies in Germany surged by 128,000 in 2017 to reach 1.18 million in the fourth quarter, a survey by the IAB labour office research institute found.
Deutsche Bahn needs to hire 19,000 workers this year to replace a wave of retiring baby boomers. It has already taken on more than 60,000 new employees in the last five years.
The recruitment drive must continue for the foreseeable future: 44% of its employees are older than 50 and 28% are older than 55.
Deutsche Bahn has created a digital marketplace that allows workers to swap shifts.
Employees also can open "time accounts" to save up unused annual leave and overtime for future sabbaticals or periods of part-time work.
While trains must run on time, flexible staff scheduling appeals to parents who want to pick up children or commuters who want to work four long days and then have a long weekend.
