The crisis in the German auto industry is also reflected in the job market. The number of job offers from companies in the automotive sector has recently fallen significantly. According to an analysis by Index Research, around 88,100 positions were advertised nationwide between January and October 2024. This corresponds to a drop of 28 percent compared to the same period last year.
However, in the longer term, the number of offers remains at a high level (see graphic). Index Research has also observed an even greater decline in job advertisements, namely from 2019 to 2020, when they fell by almost 40 percent.
The data, which comes from Europe’s largest job advertisements database, Index Advertisement Data, reveals a particularly sharp decline in job offers for computer scientists and managers – here the number of advertised positions fell by 44 percent. The research and development area is also severely affected, with a decline of 57 percent.
Energy prices and competition from Asia
“The auto industry, the backbone of the German economy, is in difficult waters,” says Jürgen Grenz, CEO of Index Research. He cites rising energy prices and increasing competition from Asia as the main reasons for the current challenges.
From a regional perspective, the city states are particularly badly affected by the negative development. Bremen recorded the largest decline with a decrease of 48 percent, followed by Berlin. In contrast, there are Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein, which got off relatively lightly with declines of 5 and 6 percent respectively.
Despite the general trend, Munich remained the industry’s job hotspot with over 8,100 open positions, closely followed by Stuttgart. Other notable locations with a higher number of job offers are Wolfsburg, headquarters of Volkswagen, and Ingolstadt, home of Audi.