Speaking German used to be an almost certain requirement for getting a job in Germany. However, a recent study has shown that the number of vacancies available in English is growing. Here are the top cities in Germany where you don’t need to enrol in a German course to find a job.
Speaking German is a skill that many expats have yet to master. However, don’t fret! Germany is home to a plethora of international companies, and, in recent years, being able to speak German has become less of an essential prerequisite for foreign employees working in Germany. This is reflected in a study from the employment website Indeed, which collected data from 88 cities and found that a significant number of job listings were actually available in English.
According to the study, Germany's capital city of Berlin had, perhaps unsurprisingly, the highest proportion, with over 14 percent of vacancies in the city being advertised in English. Indeed's list of the 10 cities with the highest proportion of English-speaking vacancies is largely dominated by metropolises, but the smaller city of Kaiserslautern in Rhineland-Palatinate also made it to the top, coming fourth behind the capital, Munich and Frankfurt.
According to Indeed, there are a number of large employers in Kaiserslautern, including the Fraunhofer Institute and the city’s two universities, which specialise in technology and applied sciences and therefore are increasingly dependent on skilled workers. This, coupled with the city’s proximity to the US Ramstein Air Base, has opened Kaiserslautern up to foreign skilled workers, despite not being home to larger international companies like the other metropolises on the list.
These are the 10 cities in Germany with the highest proportion of English-speaking job advertisements: