Software developers remain the most in demand in Germany.
DW turned to the German association of digital economy companies Bitkom for an answer to this question.
The COVID-19 pandemic could not help but affect the labor market. In the field of information technology, demand traditionally exceeds supply. Due to the coronavirus crisis, there have been fewer such vacancies in Germany, but demand remains high. At the end of 2020, the total number of vacancies in the IT sector in the country reached 86 thousand. What does this mean?
Pandemic and the new law: what has changed for the IT sector
At first, it was bad news. This is almost a third less than last year. And now – good news. Even with such a significant reduction in demand due to the pandemic, it still remains very high. In 2019, a historical maximum was reached: 124 thousand vacancies. According to a recent study by the German association of digital economy companies Bitkom, seven out of ten companies in all industries are experiencing a shortage of IT personnel. And the search for such specialists is taking more and more time: today, it takes half a year to find a specialist for a vacancy in the field of information technology.
Since March 1, 2020, a new law has been in force in Germany to facilitate employment for personnel from countries outside the European Union. An even greater exception has been made for IT specialists: foreign specialists in this field with a German level of at least B1 (or knowledge of English, if this is the working language) can work, even without confirming their own diploma in Germany – they only need to have at least three years of work experience in their field (in the last seven years) and an employment contract with a salary of at least a certain amount.
German is no longer a mandatory but important factor
“The fact that the new law does not make knowledge of German a main condition for employment for IT specialists has certainly significantly expanded the possibilities of companies when searching for employees,” says Lisa Allegra Markert, labor market expert at the Bitkom digital economy association. The demand for 86 thousand specialists cannot be met solely by specialists on the domestic market. Therefore, German companies want and must recruit foreigners. The main obstacle for German employers remains bureaucratic barriers.
The specificity of vacancies for IT specialists lies precisely in the urgency, Markert notes: “A person is needed for a specific project that has deadlines for delivery, and there is no time to procrastinate. But in reality, you often have to wait. And another problem that arose due to the pandemic is that until embassies and consulates in countries from which potential employees could come cannot work normally, the visa application process is very complicated, and specialists from these countries cannot come to work. Or it is possible, but only for a very limited number of specialists.” As the German expert emphasizes, the chances of employment in Germany for IT specialists are good, and they do not depend on which country a person is trying to get a job from.
The new law has significantly facilitated employment for qualified specialists. However, the results of the Bitkom study show that knowledge of the German language remains, if not the main, then an important criterion: nine out of ten companies call it a prerequisite. More than ever, applicants are expected to have a high level of soft skills: reliability, teamwork, analytical thinking. Intercultural communication skills are less in demand, but German employers will be happy if the candidate has them.
Who is needed in the German IT market
Software developers continue to be in the greatest demand. Every second company that posted a vacancy in the field of information technology in 2020 was looking for IT architects. According to Bitkom, the most popular programming languages are currently JavaScript, HTML, R and SAS, Java, Python, C++.
System administrators are in second place among popular specialties: every third company is looking for specialists for system management and administration. The top three most needed specialists are experts in data analysis (Data Scientist). Less popular are vacancies for consultants and IT security specialists.
