Against the backdrop of an ageing population and a favourable job market, making the civil service an appealing career choice can become a real challenge. This is the situation Germany is currently facing: one-fourth of the civil service workforce is at least 55 years old and the unemployment rate (5.3% in April) has been falling continuously since 2009. Although the retirement age has been raised (from 65 to 67 as of 1 January 2012¹), the country is finding it difficult to recruit public servants, and many posts remain vacant for long periods. Simply guaranteeing a job for life (de jure for any civil servant and de facto for non-civil servants on permanent contracts) is no longer enough to convince people to choose a public-sector career.

In an effort to reverse this trend, the federal government has taken the lead. It has rolled out two initiatives designed to motivate candidates by emphasising two strong points of the civil service: commitment to the community and the variety of professions available within the government.

 A widespread communications campaign, called "durchstaaaten" was launched in early summer 2017:






Durchstaaten is a made-up term that combines the German words durchstarten (to get going, to rev up) and Staat (State). Its approach is value-based: "We, public employers at federal, Länder and municipal level, are seeking people who are committed to the general interest". For the first time, all three civil services have joined forces, in partnership with professional organisations. Short videos were broadcast on several channels (TV, Internet) and leaflets were passed out in secondary and higher education establishments. The job exchange has been revamped and every government department has been tasked with rethinking how to make its recruitment campaigns more appealing.

But the government doesn't want to limit itself to young people entering the job market. Why not attract the attention of private-sector workers who can – in addition to their training – contribute their experience and skillsets? This innovative approach is based both on a desire for openness and on a need to attract talent that is lacking.

As part of this initiative, which targets Quereinsteiger (people entering a field of work different from their educational background), the authorities have emphasised that each applicant's experience should be taken into account, stating that discrimination based on age or seniority within the civil service will not be tolerated during the recruitment process. The goal is clear: to give people who choose to join the public sector at a later time in their careers exactly the same opportunities as those who have always worked there.

The initial results are encouraging, even though the effects will only be seen in the long term. The most recent figures reveal that the number of public-sector jobs has risen slightly.


¹ Retirement age raised from 63 to 65 years for those with disabilities.