Anyone looking for skilled tradespeople today will be familiar with the problem. The public sector is suffering even more severely than the private sector from skills shortages and an insufficient number of applicants. The provision of essential public services is at risk: according to a PwC study published this year, German public authorities could be short of one million skilled professionals by 2030.

Public Authorities Could Be Short of Up to One Million Skilled Professionals by 2030

The German federal and state governments’ Demography Portal notes that infrastructure investments cannot be implemented because public authorities lack the skilled professionals required to carry them out. IT experts needed for the digitalisation of public administration are moving to the private sector, where salaries are higher. Public administration is consistently understaffed by 11%. Digitalisation is stalling.

The transition to a green economy and the refugee crisis intensified by the war in Ukraine are just two factors increasing the demand for skilled professionals and intensifying competition for applicants. Federal and state authorities, universities, municipalities, and administrative districts are all competing with one another.

Employer Branding for Public Authorities

According to the PwC study, modern employer branding can help position the public sector as an attractive alternative to private-sector employment. However, a look at the careers pages of many public authorities reveals a low level of digitalisation: job vacancies are often provided only as PDF documents. There is frequently no integrated digital recruitment management system, or the entire application process is outsourced.

On the established recruitment portals used by federal, state, and local authorities, job advertisements are often presented side by side without any distinctive design or individual identity. This leaves little opportunity for public-sector organisations to develop their own employer brand through dedicated careers pages.

PwC cites recruitment campaigns by the German Armed Forces and the skilled trades sector as successful examples of centralised employer branding. While these campaigns have undoubtedly been effective, they do not take into account the fact that public authorities are also competing with one another for qualified employees. The use of social media platforms such as Instagram can further enhance the visibility and appeal of vacancies within an authority.

Digital Recruitment Management

Fast and transparent application processing is an important factor in making vacancies attractive. The path from job advertisement to employment should be as short as possible.

Modern recruitment solutions accelerate hiring processes, as demonstrated by Unfallversicherung Bund und Bahn. For the German Federal and Railway Accident Insurance authority, wiminno developed the WIM HR-MANAGER, a digital recruitment management system.

A digital system that enables recruitment cycles to be conducted more frequently can help challenge the perception of public authorities as bureaucratic, slow, and therefore unattractive employers. At the same time, personal communication with candidates and GDPR-compliant data processing must always be ensured.

The investment pays off. According to the authority’s HR department, suitable candidates are now identified twice as quickly with the WIM HR-MANAGER as they were previously.