The German ICT labor market shows clear signs of cooling. Current figures show: While the number of vacancies is falling significantly, unemployment among IT specialists is rising at the same time. According to the Federal Employment Agency, there were around 13,000 job vacancies for ICT professions in stock in 2025 – a decrease of 22 percent compared to the previous year. The profession-specific unemployment rate for ICT professions (Information and Communication Technology) increased from 3.7 to 4.5 percent. The trend is even more evident in the total number of unemployed people: at the end of September 2025, 57,665 computer scientists and other ICT specialists were registered as unemployed – that is 25 percent more than in the previous year. For comparison: ten years ago, this figure was less than half at 27,910. The number of open IT positions is also decreasing almost in step with the rise in unemployment. According to statistics from the employment agency, the supply of open positions for computer scientists and other IT professions decreased by 22.3 percent to just under 12,000 in September 2025 compared to the previous year.

A study by the Institute of the German Economy (IW) shows: While the number of vacancies for skilled workers decreased by 4.3 percent economy-wide between 2023 and 2024, the decrease in ICT professions was 26.2 percent – six times as strong. In absolute terms, vacancies decreased by 16,500 to 46,431. This decline particularly affected IT experts with a Master's or Diploma degree: the number of vacancies for these highly specialized professionals decreased by 33.7 percent within one year to only 26,753. For trained IT professionals without an academic degree, the decline was 19.6 percent. Despite the significant increase in unemployment, the industry association Bitkom announced in August 2025 that there is still a shortage of IT specialists: according to the association, more than 100,000 IT specialists are missing in Germany. The IW calculated that there were over 13,500 open IT positions in 2024 that could not be filled – this corresponds to a rate of 69.9 percent. Other sources speak of even higher numbers: according to a Bitkom survey of around 850 companies, there were 149,000 unfilled IT positions in German companies in 2024, compared to only 82,000 five years earlier.

The current development is primarily a consequence of the weak general economic development and growing cyclical uncertainties in Germany. Companies are reacting to the uncertain economic situation with restraint in new hires and are postponing many IT projects, which directly reduces the demand for IT personnel. Another factor is the use of artificial intelligence, which particularly affects creative areas. For example, the number of positions for web designers and web developers has decreased significantly. In contrast, the demand for SAP specialists remains high, driven by the widespread introduction of SAP S/4HANA. The current situation presents a paradoxical picture: on the one hand, unemployment among ICT specialists is rising sharply; on the other hand, the shortage of skilled workers persists in many areas. IT professionals with good skills and specialized know-how will continue to find attractive job offers, while the overall market has become noticeably tighter.