Youth State Secretary Claudia Plakolm of the ÖVP has further explained her plans to fill her civil service in phases in the future. She explained on Wednesday that this would only apply to “particular hardships”. Together with the Ministry of Defence, it is currently being examined whether this solution can be implemented under constitutional law. She was very pleased with the lively influx of civilian service. This ultimately acts as a “headhunter for the social sector”.
In the first half of 2023, there were 5,446 community service orders, which corresponds to an increase of 6.2 percent compared to the previous year. This covered 87 percent of demand, which also means an increase compared to 2022.
The largest and most popular field of application for community service is the rescue service. 43 percent of civil servants were assigned to services in the rescue service, one in four went to social and disability care, twelve percent worked in aged care and nine percent in hospitals.
Proud of “Basic Nursing Training”
Plakolm is proud that civil servants can now follow a kind of “basic nursing training” as part of the UBV (basic care support) module. There are constant innovations and improvements, such as the increased base salary for civil servants since the beginning of the year. About three-quarters of civil servants remain after their organization’s service. For this reason alone, the civil service is indispensable.
Sharing the service as a facilitation
That Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner of the ÖVP is rather skeptical about a division of the basic military service, of course, does not pose a problem for Plakolm. She explained that the proposal is currently under constitutional scrutiny. The “hardships” she cites may include seasonal workers in areas such as hospitality, agriculture, and family businesses. A division of the service could bring great relief here.
The Lower Austrian FPÖ provincial councilor Susanne Rosenkranz also thinks that it is currently usually not possible to get a deferment of community service because of a diploma ‘simply unfair’. However, she clearly rejected Plakolm’s plans, partly because of the additional administrative burden. Rosenkranz believes that not every civil servant needs to be 100 percent “fit”, for example for an office job.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
