Opposition politicians from the CDU and the left criticize the enormous increase in new posts in ministries. CDU boss Merz calls for more job cuts in the coming year. Left boss Bartsch only approves of new hires if they meet two criteria.
Before the start of the budget week in the Bundestag, CDU leader Friedrich Merz criticized the strong increase in jobs in ministries and subordinate federal authorities. The traffic light government has “lost all measure,” Merz told the “Welt am Sonntag” and referred to “a debt level of historic proportions”. The blanket job cuts that the SPD, Greens and FDP had agreed on for 2023 is not enough. Savings must be made in the ministries in particular, where the post structure is particularly high.
When the parliamentarians pass the 2023 federal budget next week, they will decide to create 4,769 additional jobs, as the newspaper reported, citing a statement by the Federal Ministry of Finance. Overall, the number of additional jobs created by the traffic light government since it started twelve months ago has risen to 10,356.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the general job cuts of 1.5 to 1.6 percent in the coming year would only lead to a loss of around 3,100 jobs, the newspaper continued. Aside from the newly created Ministry of Construction, the biggest job gains were in the Economics and Transport Ministries, the Foreign Office, and the Health and Development Ministries.
Dietmar Bartsch, chairman of the left faction, also criticized the personnel policy of the traffic light government. “Citizens suffer from gigantic additional costs, some companies are on the verge of bankruptcy and the ‘traffic light’ inflates the ministries – that doesn’t go together,” he told the newspaper. The increase in personnel must be checked on two points: does it contribute to overcoming the crisis and does it benefit future viability. “If the criteria don’t apply, a hiring moratorium should apply to the crisis,” Bartsch demanded.
