“There was never enough staff,” said GDL boss Claus Weselsky in an interview with stern in January (which you can find in full here). With his bitter conclusion, the head of the train drivers’ union may have primarily had the status of Deutsche Bahn’s train staff in mind. However, the shortage of skilled workers is a problem that affects the entire Deutsche Bahn group – and is apparently only getting worse.
As the personnel market researcher Index Research in Berlin announced, the number of publicly advertised positions at the railway has almost doubled in four years. In 2023, DB advertised more than 68,600 positions; in the pre-Corona year of 2019, according to the index, there were still around 36,200 positions.
A look at the past two months shows which areas have been most in need of new talent recently. Index provided the data upon request. In January 2024, most of the advertised positions, 5,229, were in the area of technical professions, including engineers and designers. In second place were construction workers and craftsmen with 3,996 jobs. In third place is the area of transport, traffic, logistics and warehousing. According to the index, 2,721 jobs were advertised in this area – which also includes train drivers and train attendants – in the month in question.
You can find a detailed breakdown in the infographic below, you can switch between months in the menu above:
While the majority of job offers in January were for skilled workers, according to the data, young talent was also being sought. 2,700 training positions were advertised. The shortage of skilled workers at Deutsche Bahn is not new; the company has been suffering from a personnel shortage for years. However, it is not the only symptom that the “patient” Bahn suffers from.
Read at stern how mismanagement has ruined the railway – and how it could get better again: Deutsche Bahn in crisis: What needs to change now
In the gallery: How the once proud state-owned company Deutsche Bahn became what it is today
