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The European Central Bank is promoting staff who “know the right people” rather than people who work well at work, employees argued in a union survey.
Only 19% of ECB employees voted by the IPSO Union believed that the central bank “does a good job in promoting the most capable people.”
IPSO vice-president Carlos Bowles said “staff are upset by the widespread favors at the ECB,” adding that the employees felt “ECB leadership has done nothing about it.”
The survey, which was answered by 30% of the ECB’s 4,700 staff, is the latest to suggest staff complaints at Frankfurt institutions. Another study last year also pointed to an increase in employee stress levels.
In the latest survey, which did not include 500 central bank trainees, 77% of respondents said “knowing the right person” is key to moving forward with the organization. This compared to 65% who held that view in a similar survey 10 years ago.
At the time, 46% of respondents said that superior performance led to promotions compared to just 34% today.
The latest poll conducted in February suggested that central bank employees are not always comfortable raising issues that create management issues. More than two-thirds responded to senior management “reluctant to reveal problems or errors” compared to just 42% who viewed that 10 years ago.
Communication is another sensitive issue, with two-thirds of respondents saying they don’t trust ECB’s communications regarding HR policies.
The ECB said it will “look closely at the survey and analyze the results.” However, in a 2024 own staff survey, with twice as many participants as in 2024, 85% of employees said they were proud to work at the central bank. The turnover rate among full-time employees is 1.8% per year.
The ECB also emphasized that its recruitment process is “designed to avoid favoritism through built-in checks and balance to ensure fairness and prevent personal influence.”
