German military faces manpower shortage
The German Armed Forces (Budeswehr) have been struggling for months.
Fewer and fewer people want to join the German armed forces. Bundeswehr has been struggling for months with recruitment, and the problem seems to be growing. From January to the end of May 2023, only 23,000 people joined the army, a 7 per cent decrease compared to the same period of last year. In 2019, there were just under 30 thousand applicants between January and the end of May, Der Spiegel writes citing a Bundeswehr spokesperson.
This means that the Bundeswehr may fall far short of its own target numbers. There are currently 180,770 professionals serving in the army, the lowest number since October 2018. The army intends to significantly increase its manpower, also in view of the war in Ukraine. The plan is to boost the headcount to 203,000, but as fewer people are applying for a position than the number of those resigning, the force is currently shrinking.
The quality of the staff could also deteriorate if the military must lower the bar in certain criteria such as physical fitness. In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the current situation, the federal government of the Social Democrats, the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats has reason to be concerned.
The hiccups in defence capabilities is not a new phenomenon, and go back years. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said a few months ago that he did not expect the gaps regarding the equipment to be closed any time soon. The Social Democrat minister then told a German paper:
„We all know that the existing gaps can’t be completely closed by 2030. That’s why we have to set priorities.”
One of those priorities is protecting NATO’s eastern flank, the minister said. Germany has put itself in a difficult situation by providing Ukraine with a significant amount of weapons, equipment and ammunition for the war against Russia, thereby almost completely depleting its own depots. Therefore, the defence minister is urging the government to accelerate negotiations with the defence industry.