Saxony-Anhalt is reducing its workforce by over 1,100 positions through a hiring freeze

In the Saxony-Anhalt state administration, the number of employees fell significantly as a result of a hiring freeze in 2025/2026. “We expected a total effect of around 180 million for both years combined and I assume that we will get there. The exact billing will then take place in 2027,” said Finance Minister Michael Richter (CDU) to the German Press Agency.

At the end of 2024 there were 41,897 so-called full-time equivalents in the country; at the end of August 2026 there were 40,725. This number indicates how many full jobs correspond to a certain amount of work. Part-time and full-time employees are converted into a uniform key figure. This allows the actual personnel deployment to be presented in a comparable manner - regardless of how many hours individual employees work. In mathematical terms, more than 1,100 jobs were saved.

“We have to further reduce the workforce”

“We still have a very large staff,” said Richter. “You have to further reduce the staff. Otherwise the budget gap will not come close to being closed. By the way, it’s no different for other countries.” The Ministry of Finance cannot identify any impairment of service operations due to the ban on new appointments.

Saxony-Anhalt has imposed a hiring freeze for 2025 and 2026 in order to curb personnel costs in the state budget. Expenditures have increased continuously in recent years; in 2025 they were around 4.51 billion euros. This year, the estimate for personnel expenses is around 4.62 billion euros.

Exceptions in the LKA and for medical officers

The ban on new appointments does not apply to all areas, with the exception of police officers and teachers. Trainees, candidates and trainees can also be taken on. Exceptions were also approved for specialists. “If you don’t have someone in the LKA who is able to evaluate DNA, then it’s clear that an exception will be made. It’s the same with medical officers, who are hard enough to find anyway,” said Richter.

The ban on new appointments will continue to apply until a budget law for 2027 comes into force. Since the preparation of the state budget will take a long time, there will probably only be a few new hires for several months.