Skills shortage in public authorities
- Background and solutions

Current situation: extent of the staff shortage in the public sector

Causes of the skills shortage in public authorities

Effects: What the staff shortage means for administration and citizens

Possible solutions: Ways out of the staff shortage

Conclusion: Remaining capable of acting despite staff shortages

Just how serious the shortage of skilled labour in public authorities already is can be seen from a number of key figures. Key facts from current studies and statistics are summarised below:

• Lack of employees in the public sector: approx. 570,000 people
• Expected retirements in the next 10 years: ~1.3 million jobs - almost a third of the workforce
• Fully digitalised administrative processes (without media discontinuity): only ~39% of processes according to employee estimates -(source: egovernment.de)

These figures paint a clear picture: the staff shortage in the public sector is real and tangible. Although Germany employs a good 5.2 million people in the civil service, this is only around 11% of the total labour force - a very low figure by international standards. There is already a shortage of over half a million skilled workers to adequately fulfill all tasks.

State and local authorities in particular are feeling the pressure, as this is where the majority of employees work. According to studies, some areas are disproportionately affected: the dbb points to dramatic staff shortages in educational institutions, internal security (police) and the healthcare sector. These sectors are considered to be particularly labour-intensive and critical - if jobs remain unfilled here, this has a direct impact on citizens and society.

There is also the demographic component: a quarter of the workforce is aged 55 or over. The baby boomers are gradually retiring. Over the next few years, the wave of retirements will gather pace - around 1.3 million administrative employees will retire by 2035. However, this will only be offset by a comparatively small proportion of young new recruits: Not even 7% of employees are younger than 25. This gap between old and young means that numerous positions would have to be filled in a short space of time in order to maintain the status quo. However, it is already clear that many of these positions cannot be filled at all or can only be filled very slowly.

To summarise, the public sector in Germany is in a precarious situation: high staff shortages in critical areas, foreseeably exacerbated by a wave of retirements, and difficulties in recruiting enough qualified junior staff. The situation is already having an impact on the ability of many authorities to work.

The shortage of skilled labour in administrations is no coincidence, but the result of several simultaneous developments and structural problems. The most important causes are analysed below:

• Demographic change
• Competition with the private sector and salary levels
• Lengthy recruitment procedures and bureaucratic hurdles
• Image and attractiveness of the public sector
• Lagging behind in digitalisation and modern work culture

In summary, the shortage of skilled workers in public authorities is the result of a combination of circumstances: demographic change, limited attractiveness and flexibility of the public sector as an employer, regional imbalances and a delay in modernisation in organisation and technology. The consequences of this situation are already clearly evident today.

The acute staff shortage in public authorities is not without consequences. Various effects are already being felt, affecting administrative staff themselves as well as citizens and businesses:

• Longer processing times and service restrictions
  Fewer staff inevitably means that processes are delayed for longer. Citizens often have to wait significantly longer for notifications, ID cards or authorisations because there are simply not enough administrative staff to deal with the flood of applications in a timely manner.
• Overworking the remaining employees
  The employees who continue to keep things running are often stretched to their limits. In order to compensate for gaps in staffing, they have to take on additional tasks, work overtime and constantly work at the limit. The mental and physical strain is increasing - according to surveys, public sector employees feel stressed and burnt out much more frequently than the average.
• Loss of quality and accumulation of errors
  The quality of task fulfilment also suffers under high time pressure and staff shortages. If case handlers have hundreds of cases on their desk, they can take less time per case. They may become less diligent, which leads to errors - for example when deciding on applications or calculating benefits. Important projects and innovations also fall by the wayside because day-to-day business ties up all capacities.
• Outsourcing and higher costs
  In order to maintain emergency operations, administrations are increasingly turning to external service providers. IT services are outsourced, planning tasks are given to engineering firms or temporary agency staff are used for processing. This closes gaps in the short term, but can be more expensive in the long term.
• Loss of trust and dissatisfaction among the population
  When citizens directly feel the effects of staff shortages - be it through long waiting times, frequently changing responsibilities or overworked, stressed employees - trust in the efficiency of the state suffers. According to a 2024 citizen survey, only 25% of respondents are still convinced that the state can fulfil its tasks adequately.
• Internal motivation and team culture
  Last but not least, the constant pressure on staff has an impact on the working culture within the authorities. Frustration arises among employees who are "tilting at windmills" on a daily basis. Commitment can wane if you have the feeling that you cannot cope with the mountains of work despite all your efforts. In some offices, conflicts arise between employees or departments, for example when priorities are unclear or everyone tries to somehow prioritise their most urgent tasks.

Overall, the effects show that the shortage of skilled labour is not just an internal problem for staff positions, but has tangible social consequences. Administration is the backbone of the community - when it crumbles, everyone notices. This makes it all the more urgent to tackle solutions. The next section presents various solutions that can help to ensure the authorities' ability to act despite a shortage of staff.

In view of the complex causes, there is no simple one-size-fits-all solution to the shortage of skilled labour in public authorities. Rather, a bundle of measures is needed at various levels. The following section explains key solutions - from traditional HR strategies to innovative technical aids - which together can help to keep the public sector fit for the future and functional.

In order to better compete for talent, the public sector must become a more attractive employer. This includes the following adjustments in particular:

• Competitive pay
• Career paths and development
• Work flexibility and culture

In addition to general attractiveness, targeted measures must be taken to find, train and retain suitable personnel:

• Increase training and study capacities
• Allow career changers and lateral entrants
• Faster recruitment procedures
• Cooperation with educational institutions
• Retention: retaining existing employees

Perhaps the most effective strategy for ensuring administrative performance despite staff shortages is the consistent digitalisation and automation of processes. Modern technologies can speed up workflows enormously, reduce errors and relieve staff of routine tasks. It is important to note that digitalisation is not an end in itself, but a means to achieve greater efficiency and citizen-friendliness - and in the current situation, it is also a means to combat staff shortages.

Even today, around two thirds of administrative staff would like to see more digital applications in their day-to-day work. The technology is therefore not just imposed from above, but is also considered helpful by the grassroots. Concrete fields of action are:

• Online services and self-service for citizens: the more services citizens can complete online themselves, the fewer personal visits and manual entries by clerks will be necessary. Simple applications (information from the population register, status enquiries, form submissions) should be offered completely online and automatically fed into the specialised procedures. This significantly reduces the workload of front office staff. Projects such as the citizen portal or the implementation of the Online Access Act (OZG) are aimed precisely at this - they must be continued at full speed. Every service processed online without media discontinuity saves time in the office.
• Electronic files and case processing: The comprehensive use of eFiles is a must in order to work efficiently. Where files are available digitally, there is no need to search for paper files, enter data twice or move folders back and forth. In addition, the eFile enables location-independent working (e.g. in the home office) and parallel processing by several departments. The fact that only 42% of employees are currently able to work with the eFile shows the potential.
• Robotic Process Automation (RPA) RPA is a key technology for automating routine tasks. This allows recurring, rule-based processes to be carried out by software robots - around the clock, error-free and reducing the workload for staff. Modern no-code RPA solutions such as EMMA even allow automation to be created without programming knowledge. This explicitly addresses the shortage of skilled labour in the IT sector.
  Another advantage: no deep system integration is required and existing specialist processes can continue to be used.
  Important for public authorities: Solutions such as EMMA can be operated on-premise so that all data remains in-house - an essential factor for data protection and compliance.
• AI assistance and chatbots: In addition to RPA, which automates rigid processes, there is also the field of artificial intelligence, which offers flexible support.
  In practice, an AI agent could, for example, answer incoming citizen enquiries in natural language (chatbot function) or formulate a decision recommendation for complex processes, which the clerk only needs to check. Such AI agents can be used across sectors and departments and are therefore not just programmed for a specific use case.
  Solutions such as EMMA and the AI agent AIMAX® work together to form an automation team: for public authorities, this means that many standard requests can be processed reliably even when staffing levels are tight - the "digital colleagues" intercept peaks and work in the background. Of course, technology does not completely replace human labour, but it can act as a multiplier: a clerk with AI support manages significantly more processes per day than without.

In summary, advancing digitalisation promises to partially compensate for staff shortages. The aim is to support as many processes as possible with smart technologies or to take them over completely. The combination of RPA and AI plays a key role in this context. Initial examples show that this type of digitalised government work is not just a vision of the future, but is already a reality.

In an acute shortage situation, it can make sense to find new ways of working together:

• Reactivating retirees
  Some authorities have started to bring back retired employees on a temporary basis or use them as temporary staff for projects. Former administrative professionals have experience and can help out at short notice - be it to train young colleagues or to deal with backlogs. Of course, this is only a temporary solution and not a sustainable personnel strategy, but it can fill gaps as an emergency measure.
• Inter-municipal cooperation
  Municipalities and authorities can share staff or form joint teams. For example, a pool of civil engineers could work for several neighbouring municipalities instead of each desperately looking for their own engineers. Or service centres could be set up to take calls/citizen enquiries centrally for several authorities.
• Public-private partnerships
  In certain areas, temporary cooperation with the private sector can make sense, for example when it comes to very specialised projects (e.g. the introduction of new software). Through temporary consultancy contracts or project partnerships, public authorities can buy in expertise that is (still) lacking internally. However, it is important to limit dependency and build up your own staff in parallel so that the knowledge remains in-house.
• Knowledge management and documentation
  Precisely because staff come and go, it must be ensured that knowledge does not disappear with people. One solution is to set up good knowledge databases, written guidelines and handover documentation - tasks for which solutions such as EMMA or AIMAX® can also provide support.
  Because when an employee leaves, their experience should be documented in the best possible way so that successors are not starting from scratch. This makes the administration more resilient to staff changes.

The shortage of skilled labour in German authorities is one of the biggest administrative crises of recent decades. There are many reasons for this - from demographic change and competition with the economy to modernisation backlogs. Without countermeasures, there is a risk of a vicious circle in which staff shortages lead to poorer administrative performance, which in turn discourages young talent and weakens the trust of citizens. However, the analysis also shows that there are solutions.

Although there is no panacea, the public sector's ability to act can be maintained through combined efforts. Local government must reposition itself as an employer - more modern, more flexible, more attractive. It is important to invest in people (training, recruitment, retention) and at the same time invest in technology to relieve the burden on people. Innovative automation solutions such as EMMA and AIMAX® show that tools are already available today to create more work with fewer staff without jeopardising quality. It is important to utilise these opportunities pragmatically and without fear of contact. Decision-makers at federal, state and local level are called upon to take their foot off the brake and boldly invest in the public sector.

The state must not be a second-choice employer - especially not at a time when its tasks are becoming increasingly complex (keyword: crisis management, digitalisation, security). Every public authority that invests in personnel and technology today lays the foundation for being able to continue providing citizen-centred services tomorrow. Conversely, inaction or postponing solutions would only exacerbate the problems.

In conclusion, it can be said that the shortage of skilled labour in public authorities is manageable if everyone involved - politicians, administrative management and employees - pull together. The necessary concepts are on the table, and many have already been tried and tested. Now it is a question of implementation. A mixture of attractive personnel management, organisational reforms and clever use of automation and artificial intelligence can help public administration turn the corner. In this way, the state remains capable of acting - and can regain and consolidate citizens' trust in its efficiency. After all, an efficient, citizen-centred administration is ultimately in everyone's interest.