Thousands of new employees are expected to start at Deutsche Bahn this year – and above all to relieve the strained railway operations. “This year, too, we will be building on hiring figures that correspond to the size of a city,” said Group HR Director Martin Seiler in Berlin on Friday. In concrete terms, this means: More than 25,000 new employees are to come. The bottom line is that the number of employees should increase by around 9,000.
Delays and train cancellations
Locomotive drivers, dispatchers, maintenance workers, construction supervisors, but also electronics technicians, IT and data experts are wanted – and urgently needed. For example in daily train operations: “Last year we had a phase in which we had high corona failures and high levels of illness, mainly related to colds,” said Seiler. In some regions, the group struggled with sick leave rates of more than 30 percent on individual days. The long-term average is currently seven percent, said Seiler. That is one to two percentage points more than usual.
Passengers therefore had to put up with numerous delays and cancellations. The railway and transport union (EVG) criticized the resulting high burden on the employees and criticized the personnel policy of the railway. With the planned 49-euro ticket for local public transport, even more people should be able to use buses and trains.
More employees are also needed in the construction sector. The poor condition of the infrastructure is one of the main reasons for the numerous delays, for which the railway is often criticized. From the end of 2024, important route corridors are therefore to be gradually closed and completely renovated within a few months. The need for specialists such as construction supervisors or engineers is correspondingly high.
Target dropouts
“On the other hand, we also have to work on reducing the need for personnel as such,” emphasized Seiler. It must be looked at at which point processes can be automated and digitized. Appropriately trained professionals are also required for this.
However, the high demand for personnel meets an ever tighter labor market, about which countless industries have been complaining for years. “The labor shortage has increased due to the pandemic for a variety of reasons,” said Seiler. Deutsche Bahn has therefore been recruiting more and more abroad for a number of years and now wants to focus on university dropouts, for example.
Starting next week, the group will also start a new campaign to recruit new employees. The slogan: “What is important to you?” Flexible and family-friendly working hours, no office duty – in times of tight labor markets, the focus is primarily on the needs of potential new employees.
A new round of tariffs is pending
This also applies to payment. The next tariff round with the EVG is due at the end of February. “You don’t have to be a great clairvoyant to see that we’re going to be dealing with a big claim,” said Seiler. At the same time, the group is struggling with high cost increases, for example in energy and construction. “It will be important for us to balance both,” he emphasized.
At the end of June last year, the Group employed more than 338,600 people worldwide, around 220,500 of them in Germany. According to Deutsche Bahn, last year around 28,000 new employees were hired. The bottom line is that the number of employees grew by around 5,000 because thousands of employees left the company in the same period, for example to retire. The railway now wants to build on that. It won’t be easy.
