For young professionals major IT companies in Germany are among the most popular employers. However, job opportunities are very unequally distributed from a geographical point of view. Just one in thirteen vacancies are currently offered y IT companies in the north or east of Germany. On the other hand, 51% of vacancies can be found in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. This north-south-divide has even grown over recent years.
The number of vacancies, for example, fell by 36% in the north and east of Germany this year as compared to the year 2007. In contrast to this, IT businesses from Baden-Württemberg have so far offered 40% more jobs this year than last year. 90% of job offers from leading IT businesses for young professionals are from companies in the south and west of Germany. These are the findings of the “IT-Jobscout May 2008” study carried out by the PPI AG consulting firm.
Once more Bavaria is top in the above ranking. 29% of all vacancies refer to jobs in this southern German free state. Bavaria is followed by Baden-Württemberg (22%) and Hesse (21%). Bottom of the table are the eastern Laender as well as Bremen and Schleswig-Holstein. Thus, the south is further strengthening its leading position. For instance, in Greater Munich 9% of all employees are currently working in the high-tech field. The German average in this respect is just 5.2%. Other important sites of the IT industry are the city of Karlsruhe as well as the region of Nuremberg/Erlangen.
This pattern, however, only applies to major IT companies. IT start-ups as well as small and medium-sized entities from the whole of Germany are looking for qualified personnel. For instance, in the city of Hamburg there are currently about 8500 IT companies employing 55.000 people and this number continues rising. Thus, over the past year the number of IT businesses in Hamburg increased by about %. The IT businesses in Hamburg which are most of the time small and medium-sized entities are desperately searching for new staff. This demand for new staff from companies of all sizes for IT specialists is highest in Berlin followed by Hamburg. 