Deutsche Bank readies government short-time work program amid coronavirus outbreak

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank is laying the groundwork for taking advantage of a government-run short-time work scheme for some of its employees in Germany as it deals with fallout of the coronavirus, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Short-time work is a form of state aid that allows employers to switch to shorter working hours during an economic downturn to keep them on the payroll. The system has been widely used by industry, like Germany’s car sector, but not by banks.

(Reporting by Patricia Uhlig; Writing by Tom Sims; Editing by Riham Alkousaa)