The German army has serious recruitment problems, the defense minister admitted on Wednesday.
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The Bundeswehr has been short of resources and funding for a long time, but the main problem is recruiting candidates for the professional service, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius admitted during a visit to the Armed Forces Career Center in Stuttgart.
“Everyone is talking about the lack of staff in the Bundeswehr, and no one knows that better than me,” the minister told reporters.
“This year, we have seven percent fewer applicants than in the same period last year,” said the minister, adding that approximately 30% of future soldiers drop out during the training period.
The acute problems facing the Bundeswehr came to light in March when Eva Högle, the German parliamentary commissioner tasked with scrutinizing the army, said the army had “too little of everything” and its barracks were in a deplorable state. Some of the soldiers’ living quarters lacked wireless Internet and even functioning toilets, Haegle said.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised to increase spending on the army. The centerpiece of the effort is a special €100 billion fund, but Haegle said none of that money was actually spent in 2022 because of sluggish bureaucracy.
When it came to recruitment, Pistorius said the younger generation was more concerned about work-life balance than in the past, and admitted it was a problem in a military career. In addition, German society is aging, resulting in labor shortages in many industries and this is also reflected in military recruitment.
“Until 2050, we will have 12% fewer people in the age group from 15 to 24,” the minister said.
The Bundeswehr currently aims to increase the number of soldiers from the current roughly 180,000 to 203,000 by 2031, although Pistorius stressed that figure was being reviewed.
2023-08-02 14:56:32
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