The Berlin-based DIW economic research institute feels more than 1 million Germans may soon be working reduced hours as firms cut back output in the economic crisis. By using “kurzarbeit” ,or shorter working hours, German firms have been able to avoid mass lay-offs. But Klaus Zimmermann, president of DIW, warns that there is a limit to how long shorter hours can stave off full scale lay-offs saying “If there is no light at the end of the tunnel on incoming orders after a certain period of time, companies are going to have to resort increasingly to letting staff go.”