Can you get a good job in Germany if you don't speak German?

Thanks to job opportunities, a good work-life balance, a solid social system and good health coverage, many people dream about settling down in Germany. 

But one thing that might hold foreigners back is a lack of language skills. In Germany, as you would expect, the main language spoken is German. And speaking the native language comes with huge benefits in terms of accessing jobs, socialising battling bureaucracy and general integration.

However, Germany is also an international country, home to millions of foreign-born individuals and a place where you'll often hear many different languages (not to mention vastly different dialects) over the course of one day. 

A question that often pops up among the foreign community is: is it possible to get a job in Germany without knowledge of German?

The short answer is: yes. But it will depend on some factors, such as where you are looking for a job, what line of work you are in and what your other language skills are. 

For instance, some companies, especially startups in cities such as Munich, Berlin and Cologne, are likely to use English as their business language.

Similarly, large companies in Germany - such as Adidas, Lufthansa, Puma, Zalando, Deutsche Telekom and Siemens - are also more likely to have English-speaking positions. 

Other international firms - such as Google and Amazon - also offer positions that do not require German skills. 

READ ALSO: How to get an English-speaking job in Germany 

How many jobs are offered without German?

The jobs platform Indeed carried out research to find out the proportion of jobs in Germany that included "Keine Deutschkenntnisse erforderlich" (no knowledge of German required) in the advertisement.

The platform found that an average of 2.7 percent of ads stated they didn't need applicants to have German skills. The research was carried out from September 2023 to August 2024.

In a comparison of European countries looking at the number of jobs that stated knowledge of the local language was not needed, Germany came second to last, just above Ireland (where 2.4 percent of jobs advertised said no English language skills were needed).

The Netherlands came top in the ranking with 7.8 percent of jobs stating no knowledge of the local language was necessary, followed by Spain (5.8 percent), France (4.1 percent), Italy (3.9 percent) and the UK (2.8 percent). 

READ ALSO: Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

What kind of jobs do not need German language skills?

That can depend on the company. For instance, in the startup scene you could find jobs in many different sectors, such as IT, marketing and design.

Teaching English - whether to businesses or individuals - is another profession that you might not need German for.

But on the whole, if you are working with German-speaking clients, you'll need at least some German. And if you're working in a line of work that requires you to handle German bureaucracy often - such as accounting and finance - you'll likely need language skills. 

Of course, it goes without saying that it is more rewarding and beneficial to have some German skills, even if you are at the beginner level. 

One thing that international companies sometimes offer is German classes to help the workforce bring their skill levels up.

The research by job platform Indeed found that the largest proportion of job advertisements that explicitly forego language skills in Germany were recorded in cleaning services (14.5 percent), food and catering (8.2 percent) and the beauty and wellness sector (7 percent).

In fact, nine of the 10 occupational groups with the highest proportion of language-flexible advertisements were in the low-wage sector.

Meanwhile, around 3.7 percent of job ads for software developers were advertised as not needing German skills. 

At the other end of the scale, almost all jobs in medicine technology, customer service, pharmacies, bookkeeping and management require German skills. 

Will German employers offer more opportunities without language skills?

As Germany is already in the midst of a major labour shortage - with an estimated 400,000 skilled workers needed from abroad every year, experts have repeatedly urged employers to be more flexible when it comes to language skills. 

Political parties - including the Free Democrats and Greens - have called for English to be introduced as a second administrative language to help attract more talent from around the globe. 

READ ALSO: ‘More jobs in English’: How Germany could attract international workers

Jobs board Indeed found there's still a lot of work to be done. "Germany may still have potential to open up its labour market more to workers who do not speak the national language," the company said in its evaluation. 

"This could not only help to overcome the shortage of skilled labour, but also facilitate the integration of migrants. After all, if employers are flexible when it comes to language requirements, the circle of potential employees expands. It also opens up job opportunities for people without any knowledge of German, which in turn has a positive effect on language skills and integration."

Indeed added that more internationally active German companies with a high demand for skilled labour could consider introducing English as a second company language "in order to increase their own applicant pool".

"In any case, a critical review of language requirements in companies is necessary, as Germany may be wasting potential when it comes to integrating migrants into the labour market," the report said.