The staff council at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs has criticized the hiring policies of Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU). According to a report in “Handelsblatt”, the criticism stems from an internal email circulated within the ministry. The primary concern raised by the employee representatives is the increasing reliance on external staff by Reiche and her team. The council stated in the message that they deeply regret the “increasing focus on external employees rather than leveraging the competence and experience of existing staff”. Furthermore, they urged the ministry leadership to conduct a reflection on working conditions, management behavior, and the institutional culture of making mistakes.
The staff council also expressed strong reservations regarding a tender issued for a “Strategic Top Management Consultancy” for the Ministry for Economic Affairs. This consultancy, which reportedly involves 9,000 annual working hours, aims to provide external support for the ministry’s work. Included in the scope of work is consulting on the operational and substantive aspects of economic planning and implementation. The staff council, along with numerous employees, views this requirement very critically, asserting that this falls under classic ministry work-an area in which the ministry is already excellently equipped. Consequently, the council formally requested that the leadership forgo this component of the service package. In response to inquiries, a ministry spokesman had previously clarified that the services being tendered are not the type that could be provided by the ministry’s own employees.
