A 4 Day Workweek in Germany?

Germany's 4 day workweek pilot shows promise. Wired profiled Berlin's hottest startups. Insights into East & West Germany's phantom borders. Germany's AI travel influencer gives all the icks.

Personal News & Musings

🫣 Sometimes, I’ll overshare and/or rant a bit.

Following last week’s musings about the importance of learning German, I thought that sharing examples of typical language requirements for jobs in Germany would be helpful.

I don’t have any hard data, but I can tell you my general impressions. I scour job portals daily to not only share opportunities with you, but also observe what the market is demanding from candidates.

These are my personal reflections:

• English jobs seem very limited right now, even in tech.

• Most, if not almost all, jobs require German fluency, usually at a B or C level.

• There is a growing trend requiring fluency in both English and German.

Below are examples of language requirements I saw recently for open roles:

• Business fluent in English and German. German fluency is a must, since you will be interfacing in German with auditors, medical experts and other non-English speaking external stakeholders.

• You are fluent in German and English, as communication with stakeholders is mainly in German and our developers in English.

• You have business-fluent German and conversational English skills.

Read last week’s newsletter: The Importance of Learning German. You can also peruse our archives.

Community News

🤝 News from our community.

• Our last poll asked: How do you like to build your professional network? 63% of our respondents say attending informal events helps them the most.

• Take part in this week’s poll. 👇

• This week’s featured Berlin Life guides: Practical Ways To Save Money In Germany and A Practical Guide To Negotiating Salary In Germany.

• Social media milestones galore:

  • We’re close to 3,000 people on Substack, with a recent injection of new subscribers. Welcome newbies!

  • We hit 2000 on LinkedIn and 1,100 on Threads, the latter of which is impressive, considering we only had about 150 followers a couple of weeks ago.

  • I made it to 5,000 on Twitter after being on the platform … for 15 years.

• Do you know you can win a free job application review or career coaching session if you refer people?

• I was on the EETF podcast (Everything Except the Football), where a fellow Canadian interviewed me about living and working in Germany.

• Our next Professional Women in Berlin Networking Dinner event is scheduled for Nov 21, and we still have some spots. Sign up to attend.

  • You can also get occasional emails about our women’s events on our separate mailing list.

• A Berlin-based startup is calling for a female founder to join their team. If you’re into sustainability and tech, get in touch.

Food For Thought

💡 Articles about tech, the world of work, & other random things.

George Stern

• It's an oldie but a goodie - 70% of German men lie on their CVs.

• This mind-blowing graphic depicts East and West Germany's phantom borders, showing income inequality, unemployment disparities, and more.

• Mark Cuban (perhaps the future owner of Twitter) shares the top three skills you’ll need to navigate the future job market.

• Why so many Gen Z employees are getting fired and why it’s more complicated than you might think.

• One of the biggest “trends” in the world of work is hiring white men to fill executive positions.

• America’s Chipotle is using a new AI recruiter that’s reduced hiring times by 75%.

• The world’s smallest Rubik’s Cube requires tweezers to move or rotate and comes with the hefty price tag of $5,250 US.

• Talent Crunch Berlin recommends creating an “anti-CV,” and it’s something I’ll be trying myself soon.

Companies Hiring

🇩🇪 Companies in Germany that are hiring right now.

• Choco (Berlin, 11 jobs, EN required)

• Omio (Berlin, 15 jobs, DE &/or EN required)

• Snowflake (Berlin, Munich, & remote, 20 jobs, EN required)

• SongPush (Berlin, 6 jobs, EN & DE required)

• SumUp (Berlin, 55 jobs, EN required)

🇩🇪 German startups that recently raised new funding may also have vacancies.

• Autarkize (€2.3 M) | Pfronten | Jobs

• Dryad Networks (€6.3 M) | Berlin | Jobs

• Dunia.ai (€10.6 M) | Berlin | Jobs

• 🇩🇪 Enpal (€1.4 B) | Berlin | Jobs

• Exomatter (€1.7 M) | Munich | Jobs

• 🇩🇪 Padel-City (€3 M) | Munich | Jobs

• Passionfroot (€3.8 M) | Berlin | Jobs

• Rebike (€13 M) | Munich | Jobs

• Recyda (€6.3 M) | Freiburg | Jobs

* 🇩🇪 The linked article is in German.

News in Germany

🗞️ All of the news in Germany.

General Happenings

• The Berlin-Hamburg train line is about to get 5G.

• The number of births in Germany is on a steep decline.

• Smokers are going to hate, hate, hate, but a new EU plan would see a clamp down on smoking.

• Lieferando no longer only delivers takeout - they also deliver items from your local Apotheken.

• German politicians have taken up the issue of menopause, but at this point, it’s mostly an “election performance” move.

Politics & Economy

• Wired profiled the hottest startups in Berlin.

• Aldi now offers cashback on purchases over €1.

• Lilium, the German flying taxi company, didn’t get their state bailout and had to file for bankruptcy.

• The aviation industry is demanding lower taxes for their carriers to operate in Germany.

• Plans to build an EV microchip factory are now on hold.

• In a country that loves all things paper, Germany is trying to compete with the US and China in AI.

Labor Market

• 90% of people participating in a German-wide 4-day workweek pilot reported positive developments.

• The Bundestag has approved another round of changes through the Bureaucracy Reduction Act, permitting employers to keep employment contracts digital.

Immigration Insights

• Germany and India are strengthening ties by offering more visas for skilled workers.

• Op-ed: A new immigrant to Germany shares her thoughts on the recent border protection measures.

• A must-watch - Nurse Chi shares her experience of living in Germany.

Fun, Interesting, and/or Useful

• The German tourism board has launched an AI travel influencer, and it's giving alllll the icks.

• A Berlin problem, if there ever was one - a plethora of wild boars.

• A German 3-year-old, dubbed a “Mini-Picasso,” has foolish people buying up all his artwork.

• Visit: A list of Berlin’s schnitzel hotspots.

Ways We Can Help You

😇 Useful stuff served up by the Berlin Life.

• Connect with other professionals in Germany with our LinkedIn Connect & Exchange list.

• Settle into your new life in Germany and save money with our partners on insurance, banking, and more.

• Read our 50+ free guides to living, working, and moving to Germany.