I was shocked to read over 18% cuts in manpower under the Tories since 2010
I hadn't realised it was anything like that number
The cuts, as well as pay no longer being comparable to that for high-fliers elsewhere,
are what has reduced their efficiency and capabilities
What might work is employing the young high-fliers he wants as consultants for say a fixed 3 year term, at much higher renumeration than civil service top salaries
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jan/03/dominic-cummings-call-for-no-10-staff-may-break-employment-law
The head of Britain’s biggest civil servants’ union said that Cummings’ comment:
“I’ll bin you within weeks if you don’t fit – don’t complain later because I made it clear now”,
implied that he “wants to hire and fire at will”
and revealed an anti-trade union mentality that would be “strenuously resisted”.
“The major problem for the civil service in the last decade has been under-investment, real-terms pay cuts and poor government policy,”
Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), said in a statement.
“Civil servants work tirelessly to make the machinery of government work for the public.
However, when you shrink the civil service by over 18% since 2010, you are not going to be able to deliver the same level of service.”