“Digitalisation, climate protection (including the ecological transformation of the economy) education, social changes, social cohesion, immigration; we will not be able to tackle these future challenges without an efficient and motivated civil service that is properly equipped in terms of staffing and technology”, said dbb Federal Chairman Ulrich Silberbach at the opening of the dbb Annual Conference in Berlin on 10 January 2022.

With staffing stretched to an absolute limit and often antiquated technology, the civil service has practically been undergoing “a permanent stress test” for years. Employees have been waiting in vain for any display of appreciation and for employers and public authorities to realise “that it is high time to make long-term investments in their staff and to motivate them to stay by offering attractive working conditions”, criticised the head of the dbb. He also stressed that it was not the employees’ fault if the State was no longer functioning in ways that citizens had every right to expect. “If, as a result of political dithering and an obsession with the bottom line, we fail to futureproof our authorities and administrations over a period of years, we cannot feign surprise when disaster strikes”, said Silberbach. He went on to warn, “We cannot go on like this. A State that fewer and fewer people trust and that is failing to live up to their expectations is a State that can expect less and less from its people in return. If the cement holding our society together begins to crumble along with the civil service, if the system slowly but surely disintegrates into a number of component parts, we stand to lose social cohesion, respect for law and order, solidarity and respect.” There is also widespread frustration among employees about “staff shortages, increasing workloads, out-of-date technology and a web of bureaucracy which is stifling innovation and agility”.

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