In the debate over whether recipients of the Bürgergeld should be required to work, the German district council (DLT) has shown openness to a work duty. In the Bild Saturday edition, DLT president Achim Brötel simultaneously rejected Labor Minister Bärbel Bas’s (SPD) claim that such a requirement would be “too expensive” and “too bureaucratic”. Brötel said that employment opportunities are a long‑established tool that districts and cities already use for asylum seekers. He said the measure would “increase noticeably” especially in Thuringia where it is “well employed in many districts”. He stressed that these activities stabilize employability, give daily structure and can even pave a way into the first labour market-a sensible and necessary step.
He added that “we also need general means not just to promote employment but to enforce it”. Concerning the Bürgergeld, Brötel said that if the transition to the general job market fails, local employment opportunities must be expanded. He argued that the present combination of add‑on, public interest and competition neutrality makes employment opportunities within the Bürgergeld system “long overdue too cumbersome”. Brötel insisted that an immediate step must be taken to close this gap.
