Public employment in North Rhine-Westphalia: Developments and options for restructuring

The report describes the personnel expenditures and the structure of public employment in North Rhine-Westphalia and discusses options for personnel policy. Direct and indirect personnel spending in North Rhine-Westphalia accounted for 43% of total spending by the state and 28% of total spending by municipalities in 2012. Organisational and budgetary changes, especially the outsourcing of public functions from the core budget, impede the transparency of spending disclosure. Outsourcing, cost advantages due to the large population and a high degree of municipalization gave rise to direct personnel spending per capita (1,200 euros) below the average of the West German states in 2012. By contrast, the spending per capita of North Rhine Westphalia’s municipalities (651 euros) was above average.