Bundeswehr under pressure: Higher salaries instead of compulsory military service required!

Bundeswehr under pressure: Higher salaries instead of compulsory military service required!

The German Bundeswehr faces an enormous personnel. A study recently carried out by the IFO Institute shows that the recruitment of volunteers by higher salaries represents a more cost -effective solution compared to reintroduction of military service. According to the calculations, the return to compulsory military service could cause costs of around 3.2 billion euros per year for the state and economic costs of 17.1 billion euros. This led experts to consider how to make the recruitment of soldiers more attractive. The IFO Institut recommends that the salaries for soldiers to be attached to the level of the private sector, which would lead to annual government expenditure of 7.7 billion euros, but could reduce the economic costs to only 9.4 billion euros, which is therefore more cost -effective than the renewal of conscription, such as Die Krone reported.

The compulsory military service was suspended in Germany in 2011 and the voluntary service lasts between seven and 23 months. The IFO Institute has also found that around 195,000 soldiers could be lost when the conscription reintroduced, who would only enter the labor market later. These delays in the intentions would result in significant economic costs, since young people up to a certain age would not be able to build up for assets or human capital. Eva Högl, the military officer of the Bundestag, describes the lack of personnel as a central problem that endangers Germany's defense ability. These findings illustrate the urgency to improve both the recruitment and the conditions for soldiers in order to strengthen the security situation in the current geopolitical landscape, such as The ZEIT analyzed.