Hundreds of Vacant Desks: Municipalities in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Struggle to Fill Administrative Posts
A dpa survey reveals hundreds of unfilled positions across city and district administrations in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, with engineers, doctors, and IT specialists particularly hard to recruit.
The Scale of the Vacancies
Municipal administrations across Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are grappling with hundreds of unfilled positions, according to a survey conducted by the German Press Agency (dpa) among city and district authorities. In the state capital Schwerin, 53 posts were vacant at the end of April, representing roughly five percent of the city's more than 1,100 total positions. Rostock reports an average of 160 unfilled positions annually out of approximately 2,600 administrative roles, a vacancy rate of six percent. However, only about half of those Rostock vacancies are slated for replacement.
City-by-City Breakdown
Other urban centers show similar patterns. Greifswald currently has 23 open positions, while Neubrandenburg reports 25 vacancies, ten of which are publicly advertised. The remaining posts are being filled through alternative means or are yet to be advertised. Wismar has four vacant positions. Stralsund stands out with 51 unfilled posts, though the city administration notes that only one of these is unplanned. Many of the others are expected to be filled shortly, with delays attributed to statutory notice periods preventing already-selected candidates from starting immediately.
- Schwerin
- 53 vacant posts
- Rostock (annual avg.)
- 160 vacant posts
- Stralsund
- 51 vacant posts
- Neubrandenburg
- 25 vacant posts
- Greifswald
- 23 vacant posts
- Wismar
- 4 vacant posts
Why Posts Remain Empty
Several structural factors contribute to the vacancies. Stralsund officials point to the constitutionally mandated principle of "best selection" (Bestenauslese) and thorough vetting processes, which significantly lengthen hiring timelines in the public sector. Additionally, some positions are deliberately kept vacant for strategic reasons: they may be reserved for trainees completing their apprenticeships, held open during departmental restructuring, or even frozen so that the allocated budget can be redirected to fund project-based roles elsewhere.
The Skills Gap
Administrations consistently report acute difficulties in recruiting for specific professions. Engineers are cited as particularly hard to hire across multiple municipalities. Rostock's administration adds doctors and IT specialists to the list of critically scarce profiles, while Greifswald highlights challenges in filling technical positions more broadly. Despite these pressures, most administrations describe the overall vacancy situation as stable, though Greifswald notes that its number of unfilled posts is increasing.
A Looming Demographic Cliff
Dietmar Knecht, state chairman of the dbb civil service union, warns that the current situation may only be the beginning. He cautions that the approaching retirement wave among baby-boomer cohorts will dramatically worsen the staffing shortage.
I fear we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. The age groups nearing retirement or pension are still to come and will leave veritable swaths of unfilled positions behind them.
