Shortage Occupations list in Germany provides you with a comprehensive overview of the “Bottleneck Professions” which are in extremely high demand. This list can surely help you apply for an EU Blue card or even get an extra point “Opportunity Card” as eligibility criteria.
The Bottleneck professions in Germany are of a wide range and you can look at the shortage occupations list if your profession is a part of it to apply for a work visa in Germany. The German Federal Government issues the occupations in the list according to the Residence Permit Act Section 18g (1) (2) (1) of the Residence Act. This means if someone has their occupation from the bottleneck occupations list, they can get priority or extra points to apply for the skilled worker visa, EU Blue card, and Opportunity card.
According to the statistics, every sixth skilled occupation is a bottleneck occupation in Germany. The lack of professionals is high for STEM and health-related jobs. The same is true for the need for graduate professionals in mechanical and automotive engineering, electrical engineering, IT, and software development/programming.
Overall, 5 different occupational sectors have been made a part of the “Bottleneck Occupation in Germany, and these have been further divided into 10 different groups—these are:
- Information and communications technology professionals
- Teaching professionals
- Health Occupations
- Science and engineering professionals
- Managerial Occupations
Shortage Occupations List in Germany
The shortage occupations list in Germany or bottleneck professions are divided based on categories. These are as follows:
Group 25 – Information and communications technology professionals
| 251. Software and applications developers and analysts | 252. Database and network professionals |
| 2511 Systems analysts2512 Software Developers2513 Web and multimedia developers 2514 Applications programmers2519 Software and applications developers and analysts not elsewhere classified | 2521 Database designers and administrators 2522 Systems administrators2523 Computer network professionals2529 Database and network professionals not elsewhere classified |
Group 23 – Teaching professionals
| 231. University and higher education teachers | 232. Vocational education teachers | 233. Secondary education teachers | 234. Primary school and early childhood teachers | 235. Other teaching professionals |
| 2310 University and higher education teachers | 2320 Vocational education teachers | 2330 Secondary education teachers | 2341 Primary school teachers 2342 Early childhood educators | 2351 Education methods specialists 2352 Special needs teachers 2353 Other language teachers 2354 Other music teachers 2355 Other arts teachers 2356 Information technology trainers 2359 Teaching professionals not elsewhere classified |
Groups 221, 222, 225,226 – Health Occupations
| 221. Medical doctors | 222. Nursing and midwifery professionals | 225. Veterinarians | 226. Other health professionals |
| 2211 Generalist medical practitioners 2212 Specialist medical practitioners | 2221 Nursing professionals 2222 Midwifery professionals | 2250 Veterinarians | 2261 Dentists 2262 Pharmacists 2263 Environmental and occupational health and hygiene professionals 2264 Physiotherapists 2265 Dieticians and nutritionists 2266 Audiologists and speech therapists 2267 Optometrists and ophthalmic opticians 2269 Health professionals not elsewhere classified |
Group 21 – Science and engineering professionals
| 211. Physical and earth science professionals | 212. Mathematicians, actuaries and statisticians | 213. Life science professionals | 214.Engineering professionals (excluding electrotechnology) | 215. Electrotechnology engineers | 216. Architects, planners, surveyors and designers |
| 2111 Physicists and astronomers 2112 Meteorologists 2113 Chemists 2114 Geologists and geophysicists | 2120 Mathematicians, actuaries and statisticians | 2120 Mathematicians, actuaries, and statisticians | 2141 Industrial and production engineers 2142 Civil engineers 2143 Environmental engineers 2144 Mechanical engineers 2145 Chemical engineers 2146 Mining engineers, metallurgists and related professionals 2149 Engineering professionals not elsewhere classified | 2151 Electrical engineers 2152 Electronics engineers 2153 Telecommunications engineers | 2161 Building architects 2162 Landscape architects 2163 Product and garment designers 2164 Town and traffic planners 2165 Cartographers and surveyors 2166 Graphic and multimedia designers |
Groups 132, 133, 134 – Managerial Occupations
| 132. Manufacturing, mining, construction, and distribution managers | 133. Information and communications technology service managers | 134. Professional services managers |
| 1321 Manufacturing managers 1322 Mining managers 1323 Construction managers 1324 Supply, distribution, and related managers | 1330 Information and communications technology service managers | 1341 Childcare services managers 1342 Health services managers1343 Aged care services managers 1344 Social welfare managers 1345 Education managers 1346 Financial and insurance services branch managers 1349 Professional services managers not elsewhere classified |
Bottleneck Occupations details by Federal Employment Agency Germany
The skilled worker situation is evaluated on the labor market once a year by the Federal Employment Agency’s statistics. Using 6 statistical indicators, a point value is determined for all occupational categories in Germany overall or occupational groups in provinces in the classification of occupations, as long as reliable data is available.
If this is greater than or equal to 2.0, it is a bottleneck occupation. If the point value is below 1.5, it is not a bottleneck job. If the value is in between, the profession’s development will continue to be monitored. According to the available data from BAA (the federal agency for employment, Germany) the overall number of Bottleneck occupations has reached 200. Please note the statistics list for these 200 bottleneck professions is yet to be released. Once it is released, you will be able to view it on this page.