New Ranking in the Top Spots

Companies in many industries are no longer quite as optimistic about the future as they were just one year ago, although this mood barely manifested itself on the job market in the first few months of this year. According to the DEKRA 2019 German Job Market Report, employers are having to fill gaps in many areas of their workforce, with the number of job offers in the fields of sales, warehouse logistics and hospitality rising especially sharply. A number of changes were observed among the ten most-sought-after careers: While electronics technicians, software developers, healthcare professionals and nurses continue to occupy the top three spots, the profession of engineering has dropped out of the top 10 for the first time ever. Newcomer professions, on the other hand, include carers for the elderly and HR managers.

• Electronics technicians back in first place in the job market
• Carers for the elderly and HR managers make their debut among the top spots
• Engineering for the first time ever no longer among the top 10 careers
• Increases above all in sales, warehouse logistics and hospitality

In what areas is demand for skilled professionals highest among employers, and in what areas is demand falling? The DEKRA German Job Market Report has been seeking answers to this question every year since it first appeared back in 2008. The current analysis is based on 13,745 job offers.

Electronics technicians remain the most sought-after
Job prospects for electronics technicians remain bright, with the random-sample analysis finding the most job offers for candidates with this training background. The profession of electronics technician has occupied the top spot since 2016.

Data specialist – an up-and-coming profession
Almost one in ten job offers is aimed at applicants with an IT background. The demand above all for software developers remains high, with this profession occupying second place in the overall ranking. A little more than one in three IT job offers is aimed at software developers and programmers (34.9%). Applicants who not only possess sound IT skills, but also understand economic interrelations and processes also enjoy excellent prospects, with business data processing specialists moving up to 13th position in the overall ranking – the highest they have ever been (2018: 22nd position). The profession of data analyst is a relatively new specialization on the job market, with applicants in this field now among the top 5 most-sought-after IT professionals (5.3%) – a position they are likely to maintain into the future, too.

Geriatric care facilities intensifying their recruitment drives
Ever since we started collecting job market data, healthcare professionals and nurses have been permanent fixtures in the top spots. Carers for the elderly, however, are one of the two newcomers in the top 10 most-sought-after professions – and this despite the long-term nationwide shortage of carers for the elderly. They are now in 7th place, having occupied 18th place as recently as last year. The act on strengthening the care profession, which entered into force at the start of the year and ensures financing for additional care staff in geriatric care facilities and clinics in order to improve the quality of care, may have been a factor here.

More job offers in sales, warehouse logistics and hospitality
This year saw a major increase in the number of job offers in three fields of work – most notably in sales consulting / sales, where employers have advertised for the most vacancies. Almost one in eight specialists sought will find themselves employed in this area (12.1%). In addition to the three “classic” sales careers in the top 10, the retail sector in particular is currently intensifying its quest for retail salespeople.

Boosted by booming online sales and increasingly sophisticated industrial logistics concepts, employers are looking to fill numerous positions in their warehouse logistics teams. For the first time ever, warehouse logistics specialists are among the top 5 professions with the highest number of job offers in the random sample (6.7%). Warehouse and transportation workers have moved up to 8th place in the overall ranking. “Despite increasing automation, warehouse logistics remains extremely personnel-intensive,” noted Jörg Mannsperger, Managing Director of the DEKRA Akademie. “This applies to all qualification levels, as the current analysis shows, because the number of offers for candidates with warehouse-specific training has also risen.”

The hotel and hospitality sector also saw an increase in the number of job offers. For the first time since 2012, service and reception personnel are back among the top 10 most-sought-after professions. Other professions in this sector simultaneously benefited from the excellent mood during the spring of this year. Chefs in particular shot up the rankings (18th position).

Engineers drop out of the top 10
This year also saw the last of the classic engineering disciplines drop out of the top 10: Architects and construction engineers – who still occupied 10th place when the previous report was published – have fallen two places. Thanks to strong activity in the building industry, however, they still enjoy the best prospects among the various engineering disciplines. The downward trend in prospects for electrical engineers has finally been bucked, with slightly more vacancies for engineers appearing on the job market. One in every four vacancies for engineers is aimed at electrical engineers (24.7%). In the overall ranking, however, they still fell three places compared with the previous year (15th position). Mechanical and automobile engineers, who last year occupied the same ranking as electrical engineers, have fallen to 20th place in the random sample. A good one in five job offers for engineers is targeted at this specialization (21.7%). It seems that overall demand for engineers is on a downward curve.

Content of the DEKRA 2019 German Job Market Report:
During the core survey period from February 18 to 24, job advertisements were evaluated in eleven German daily newspapers, two online job boards and two social networks. The report which is only available in German contains the following:

• An overview of the development of professions and fields of activity
• An in-depth analysis of the work of professional drivers
• An in-depth analysis of the work of software developers
• A supplementary report on the subject of personnel trends in the retail sector
• Expert comments

For further information:
DEKRA Akademie GmbH
Dr. Peter Littig
Phone +49.171.7617400
peter.littig@dekra.com