German Defense Ministry employees are dissatisfied with personnel policies, media write

Employees of the German Ministry of Defense are dissatisfied with the personnel policy in the department, which, in their opinion, is built on political connections and personal acquaintances, but they are afraid to openly criticize the leadership, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper reports, citing internal documents.

“In the Bandler Block, where the Berlin headquarters of the Ministry of Defense is located, many employees are dissatisfied. They talk about the fear of openly expressing disagreement and the desire to internally distance themselves from what is happening. The reason lies in ... personnel policy,” the article says.

Thus, in one of the complaints, ministry employees wonder what is decisive when obtaining a position: professional suitability and previous achievements or connections, political contacts and special trusting relationships.

The newspaper notes that the complaint was made anonymously, since public criticism of the ministry’s work could have dire consequences for an employee’s career. The publication emphasizes that the complaint was not groundless.

Welt am Sonntag writes that representatives of the ministry's employees recently contacted a lawyer to challenge the appointment of an employee who was entrusted with managing the staff of one of the minister's state secretaries. As follows from the letter obtained by the newspaper, the reason for the appeal was that the ministry did not hold a personnel competition and the position of the employees on the personnel decision was ignored.