Most Germans and Immigrants Agree on Language Learning
Learning German is something almost everyone — Germans and internationals alike — agrees on. A recent study by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), one of Germany’s most well-known political research organisations, asked people across different backgrounds what integration in Germany should look like. The survey, called Concepts of Integration in the Population, found that all three groups — Germans without a migration background, Germans with a migration background, and foreigners — shared a clear and similar view: immigrants should learn the German language.
Over 97% of Jobs in Germany Still Require German
This view is strongly supported by job market data. A 2024 report by the job platform Indeed analysed millions of job listings in Germany between September 2023 and August 2024. The results show that only 2.7% of all listings did not require German language skills. That means more than 97% of jobs in Germany still expect at least some level of German — even in international companies or tech roles. Compared to other European countries, Germany has one of the lowest shares of jobs open to non-German speakers. The roles that did not require German were mostly in low-wage sectors like cleaning, food and catering, and beauty services. Nine out of ten such listings fell into these categories. Higher-skilled positions in medicine, customer service, and management almost always required German.
Better German Means Better Pay
Older research points in the same direction. A 2019 study by the Institute for Economic Research (IW) in Cologne found a clear link between German language skills and earnings: the better migrants speak German, the more they tend to earn. The study’s author, Wido Geis-Thöne, stated plainly that language learning is the single most important factor for successfully integrating into the German job market. Whether you look at public opinion or hard labour market data, the message is consistent — for anyone planning to build a life in Germany, learning German is not just a cultural expectation, it is a practical necessity.
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