Market Report
Where the hiring demand is in German technology: September 2026
On 15 September 2026 there were 154,732 engineering, sales, marketing and business development jobs advertised in Germany. We counted how many sit in the markets we recruit for. Machinery and industrial automation is the largest pool by a distance, aerospace and defence sits close behind automotive, and semiconductors and power electronics are small in number and hard to fill.
How these figures were gathered
- Counts of publicly advertised vacancies in Germany, taken on 15 September 2026 and limited to engineering, sales, marketing and business development roles.
- Sectors follow each employer’s own industry classification: machinery and automation manufacturers; electrical and electronics manufacturers; vehicle manufacturers; aerospace, defence and space manufacturers; telecommunications; medical equipment manufacturers; semiconductor manufacturers; computer hardware manufacturers; and renewable energy equipment makers and generators.
- Where no suitable industry classification exists we counted by keyword: photonics, optics and laser; vacuum, PVD, CVD, plasma and thin film; and adverts naming power electronics alongside an engineering, sales or marketing term. Keyword counts can overlap with the industry counts.
- These are adverts, not unique vacancies. A role advertised twice counts twice, and roles filled without an advert do not count at all.
Why we are counting
The question we are asked most, by hiring managers and by candidates, is simple: what does the market look like? A recruiter’s answer is usually a feeling built from the searches on their own desk. That is useful, but it is one desk. So from this month we are counting.
Every month we will take the same measurement: how many engineering, sales, marketing and business development roles are advertised in Germany, in each of the markets we work in. This is the first reading. On its own it is a snapshot; the value comes from repeating it and watching what moves.
The numbers
Advertised vacancies in Germany on 15 September 2026, limited to engineering, sales, marketing and business development roles. For scale, all such roles in Germany came to 154,732.
- Machinery and industrial automation: 7,805
- Electrical and electronics manufacturing: 2,874
- Automotive: 2,864
- Aerospace and defence: 2,364
- Telecommunications and RF: 2,023
- Medical technology: 1,206
- Photonics, optics and lasers: 920
- Semiconductors: 701
- Computer hardware: 310
- Renewable energy equipment and generation: 220
- Vacuum, thin film and plasma: 161
- Roles that name power electronics outright: 44
Machinery and automation is the biggest pool by far
At 7,805 adverts it is larger than automotive and electronics manufacturing combined. That is Germany’s machine builders and automation suppliers, and it matches what we see on our own desk: the steady demand is for sales engineers and application engineers who can talk to an OEM’s engineering team and its purchasing team in the same meeting.
Aerospace and defence is close behind automotive
2,364 against 2,864. Automotive is still one of the largest employers of engineers in the country, restructuring headlines notwithstanding, but aerospace and defence are now hiring at a similar scale. One reading cannot tell us which way either is moving. The next few months will.
Semiconductors are small in number, not in difficulty
701 adverts is a modest figure next to the industrial markets, and that is exactly why these searches are hard. A specialist market has a small pool on both sides: few open roles, and fewer people who can do them. When a role here stays open, it is rarely for lack of applicants and almost always for lack of the right ones.
Power electronics hides inside other markets
Only 44 adverts name power electronics outright. The demand is far larger than that, but it is advertised as automotive, as electronics manufacturing, as energy and as automation, under titles that say inverter, drives, charging or hardware. Candidates searching for the words power electronics see a sliver of the market, and so do employers benchmarking against it.
Renewables look smaller than they are
220 adverts from employers classed as renewable energy companies undercounts the sector, because many of the companies building inverters, storage and grid equipment classify themselves as electrical equipment or utilities. We will report this one with care until we have a better cut.
What this means if you are hiring
The size of a market is not the same as the ease of hiring in it. The biggest pools are where competition for the same people is loudest; the smallest are where there are simply not many people to compete for. Either way, the advert is the least effective part of a search in these markets. The people you want are usually already employed, not reading job boards, and have to be approached.
What comes next
We will repeat this count every month and publish what has moved. Alongside it we are gathering the salaries these same adverts offer, so that the next question, what it costs to hire at each level, has an answer grounded in real offers rather than one desk.
Markets covered
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