The number of civil servants has therefore decreased. Now the department responsible for the public service of Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) reports an increase again. As of June 1, 2021, there were 69,309 civil servants (calculated on a full-time basis) in the federal service. That is 294 more than at the end of 2020. The proportion of civil servants among federal employees is thus 50.9 percent.
Security and Justice
In Kogler’s office, the increase is justified with “substantial increases” in the areas of security and justice. For legal reasons, employees there could often not be employed as contract staff. This affects law enforcement officials, judges and prosecutors, for example.
Overall, however, the federal government is fulfilling the personnel plans set by the government. There are currently 135,763 full-time equivalents. This is more than 5500 below the target value. The head of the civil servants’ union (GÖD), Norbert Schnedl, therefore called for an “admission offensive in all areas”. Because half of the employees will retire in the next ten years, there would otherwise be an acute shortage of staff.
