This chapter explores Germany’s initiatives to address challenges in developing, attracting, and retaining artificial intelligence (AI) talent. Notable achievements include a positive AI skills migration gain, thriving tech hubs in Berlin, Munich and Stuttgart, and the successful establishment of 150 additional AI professorships since the launch of the national AI strategy. The chapter discusses the amended Skilled Immigration Act (Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz, FEG) potential in easing visa processes for non-European Union (EU) skilled professionals. It also looks at the offer of AI-related courses in German universities. Recommendations include continued efforts to streamline visa processes for AI professionals, a higher number of shorter AI courses and AI programmes in English, and mandatory ethical/human-centric AI courses to ensure responsible AI development.
OECD Artificial Intelligence Review of Germany
2. Minds
Abstract
The Minds section of Germany’s national AI strategy recognises that German companies, universities, and research institutions face challenges securing AI talent in a highly competitive global labour market. Since 2018, Germany has launched several initiatives to attract skilled workers through higher education and training, and to create an attractive working and research environment for scientists (German Federal Government, 2020[1]).
Box 2.1. Minds: Findings and recommendations
Findings
In recent years, German companies have attracted and retained international workers with AI skills. However, competition for AI talent from foreign companies is still present, and intricate visa processes hamper recruiting talent from non-EU countries.
An additional 150 AI professorships were established between 2018 and 2023, signalling a strong commitment by German universities and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) to promote academic excellence in the field of AI.
Compared to six other European countries (Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), Germany ranks second-to-last in terms of AI degree programmes per capita. Furthermore, most AI-related degrees are in German, which is a barrier to attracting foreign students.
AI education at universities consists mostly of full-degree AI programmes, whereas other countries have a large availability of shorter programmes for certificates or one-year masters.
There are many compulsory human-centred AI courses, but no full degree for human-centred AI. That said, an increasing number of AI courses are offered outside of computer science departments at universities.
Recommendations
Continue efforts to facilitate visa processes and immigration for AI professionals through the FEG.
Increase AI course offerings in English and in ethical/human-centred AI across degree programmes and disciplines.
AI talent attraction
Germany's national AI strategy has achieved its goal by funding 150 AI professorships ahead of the 2025 target. German tech hubs like Berlin and Munich are attracting AI talent, leading to a net skills migration gain. However, AI job vacancies remain open longer than in other sectors, indicating an AI skills shortage.
Germany’s national AI strategy emphasises attracting and retaining AI talent
The national AI strategy aimed to attract academic talent for at least 100 additional AI professorships by 2025. This target was achieved in 2022, and 150 additional professorships on AI were funded by 2023 through measures supported by the BMBF: i) the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship for AI (18 new AI professorships); ii) the establishment of five AI competence centres at universities (24 new AI professorships); iii) the tenure-track programme (85 new AI professorships); iv) programmes by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft, DFG) (8 additional AI professorships); and v) collaborations between non-university research institutions and universities (15 additional AI professorships) (BMBF, 2022[2]). Stakeholders recognised the success of the additional 100 professorships initiative and advocated for its continuation (Humboldt Foundation, 2023[3]). The programme’s initial success was due to initial funding and longer-term funding to the German AI excellence centres is considered crucial to sustain the initiative and allow for hiring more AI professors.
Additionally, the BMBF-funded Konrad Zuse Schools for Excellence in AI (funded by the German Academic Exchange Service, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, DAAD) welcome international AI talents at the master’s and PhD level. They offer teaching and research programmes in English and bring together a consortium of renowned scientists from universities and non-university research institutions with an interest in innovative teaching as well as representatives of research and development departments in business and industry as fellows.
German companies have been able to attract and retain workers with AI skills internationally in recent years. This is reflected in Germany’s positive AI skills migration gain: according to LinkedIn data more AI‑skilled workers are coming into the country than are leaving it (OECD.AI, 2023[4]). Moreover, the German cities of Berlin, Munich and Stuttgart are among Europe’s largest tech hubs, with approximately 47 200, 40 300 and 31 000 engineers working in each city, respectively (Sequoia, 2023[5]).
Figure 2.1. Germany attracts international AI talent
AI skills migration per 10 000 LinkedIn users, 2022
Notes: This chart displays the net migration flows of LinkedIn members with AI skills from 2019 to 2022. The height of the dark bars indicates the magnitude of a country’s AI talent gains/losses, respectively. Average from 2019 to 2022 for a selection of countries with 100 000 LinkedIn members or more. Migration flows are normalised according to LinkedIn membership in the country of interest.
Source: OECD.AI (2023[4]), Between-country AI Skills Migration, https://oecd.ai/en/data?selectedArea=ai-jobs-and-skills&selectedVisualisation=between-country-ai-skills-migration (accessed on 11 October 2023).
Demand for AI skills in Germany has been growing in recent years. AI-related online vacancies in Germany were 0.4% of all job postings in 2022, in an increasing trend and above most EU countries considered in the study, but below the United States (0.8%), Canada (0.54%) and the United Kingdom (0.51%) (Borgonovi et al., 2023[6]) (Figure 5.2). According to data from Adzuna, a search engine for job advertisements, the demand for AI skills within information technology (IT) job postings increased since 2018 and was at 1.5% in 2023 (Figure 2.2). This is above other EU countries such as France and Italy but again below the level of Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom (all above 2%, with Canada at 3%). Data from the same platform show that IT jobs, particularly those requiring AI skills, in Germany stay vacant online for a longer period than those in other sectors, such as healthcare, engineering, and manufacturing (Figure A A.4). After three months of being posted online, the proportion of IT jobs in Germany that require AI skills is almost 20% higher than at the beginning of the period, signalling a persistent shortage of workers with AI skills to fill the advertised positions in this category (Figure A A.5). Employers also report a shortage of AI skilled professionals as one of the key obstacles to implementing AI solutions (see Chapters 4 and 5).
Figure 2.2. Demand for AI skills in IT job postings has been growing in recent years in Germany
Relative international AI skill demand
Note: The line chart shows the probability that an AI skill appears in an IT-related job posting within the selected countries.
Source: OECD.AI (2023[7]), Relative International AI Skill Demand, https://oecd.ai/en/data?selectedArea=ai-jobs-and-skills&selectedVisualisation=relative-international-ai-skill-demand (accessed on 5 November 2023).
Stakeholders pointed out that lengthy and intricate visa application processes have made it challenging for universities and research centres to employ academics from non-EU countries. However, they have also acknowledged that the amended FEG (Box 2.2) is expected to help alleviate this situation.
AI education at universities
Germany offers 50 AI degree programmes, with a balanced supply between Bachelor's and Master's levels. Introducing shorter programmes could be helpful. AI courses are increasingly being offered at German universities across departments. Overall, Germany's AI educational offerings remain less accessible to non-German speakers.
German universities increasingly offer AI-related courses, in and out of computer-science departments
As of December 2022, German universities offered 50 full AI degree programmes,1 20 bachelor’s and 30 master’s degrees. In absolute numbers, compared to six other countries in Europe (Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), Germany stands out as ranking second in terms of full AI degree programmes offered. However, the offer is relatively lower in per capita terms (Figure A A.1). This indicator only offers a partial view, though, since it does not consider the number of students enrolled in the respective programmes, for which information is not available. The supply of AI courses in Germany is more balanced between Bachelor’s and Master’s courses than in neighbouring countries that tend to offer AI degrees as certificate courses (non-German-speaking part of Switzerland) or as one-year master’s programmes (France) (Figure A A.2). Offering shorter AI courses, including AI bootcamps or intensive courses, alongside full AI degree programmes would provide a flexible and efficient way for individuals to acquire essential AI skills in a shorter timeframe and enable professionals from diverse backgrounds to integrate AI into their expertise more quickly. This would help address growing demand for AI specialists and ensure that professionals integrate AI advancements across sectors.
Box 2.2. The Skilled Immigration Act (Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz)
The amended FEG, with its initial part taking effect in November 2023 and subsequent parts in March and June 2024, broadens opportunities for foreign skilled workers with higher education qualifications to work in Germany, lowers salary thresholds to live in Germany, and expands eligibility. For example, immigrants with a qualified vocational qualification or a university degree are no longer restricted to applying for jobs only related to their training and qualification. The amended act also broadens the list of recognised professions and facilitates family reunification for family members of EU Blue Card holders who have already lived with their family in another EU member state. IT specialists can also qualify for an EU Blue Card without a formal qualification but based only on relevant professional experience.
Since March 2024, participants in initiatives to improve skills and qualifications (Qualifizierungsmaßnahmen) can enter Germany and stay up to three years. Qualifizierungsmaßnahmen are measures targeted at immigrants who strive to attain complete equivalence between their foreign professional qualifications and those recognised in Germany. Furthermore, a new recognition partnership of skilled employment (Anerkennungspartnerschaft) allows individuals from non-EU member states to enter Germany, complete the entire recognition process, and engage in training, with an initial one-year residence permit extendable to three years. In June 2024, the act also introduced an opportunity card for job searching. Those with full professional recognition receive this card without additional requirements, while others must demonstrate recognised professional or higher education qualifications. Although not AI specific, this is expected have significant impact on Germany’s ability to attract and retain talent in the AI ecosystem, thanks to foreign credential recognition and labour market mobility.
Source: Anerkennung in Deutschland (2023[8]), “Einwanderung wird erleichtert”, https://www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de/html/de/aktuelles-neues-fachkraefteeinwanderungsgesetz.php (accessed on 11 October 2023).
Germany is already focusing on interdisciplinarity in AI by including AI courses in curricula across disciplines. The number of AI courses outside of computer science departments has seen a fivefold increase between 2017 and 2022, with 109 such courses taught across departments (Figure A A.2). AI courses are increasingly offered outside computer science departments at German universities, in particular in philosophy, economics, medicine and health sciences, communication and media studies, and law. Many courses are also open to all students, regardless of their department affiliation (Figure 2.3). AI courses in these disciplines and in education have substantially increased over the years. While there was a drop in the number of AI courses in political sciences in 2022-23 (Figure A A.3), this may be due to coverage of AI topics embedded in broader technology governance courses or degree programmes (e.g. Technical University of Munich’s Master’s in “Politics and Technology” or Hertie School’s Master’s in “Data Science for Public Policy”). Furthermore, courses in non-computer science departments are open to all students, increasing exposure to the topic.
More than two-thirds of Germany’s full AI degree programmes are in German, which makes the country an attractive destination for prospective students from German-speaking countries, but possibly less attractive to non-German speaking students, thus reducing the ability to attract internationally mobile students and reach a larger pool of potential AI talent. Smaller EU countries, such as Cyprus, the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries, offer more AI courses in English per capita than Germany (OECD.AI, 2023[9]).
The national AI strategy places a substantial emphasis on ethical/human-centred AI. However, completing an ethical/human-centred AI course or module is compulsory in less than one-third of the degree programmes offered. Human-centred AI courses or modules could be required in AI educational programmes to ensure the development of trustworthy and responsible AI.
Figure 2.3. AI courses at German universities are mainly offered in five departments outside computer science
Notes: This graph shows the number of AI courses offered outside computer science departments at German universities for three different time periods. It includes data from the general course registries of the 50 largest German universities in terms of students registered on AI courses for three different time periods: academic years 2017/18, 2019/20 and 2022/23. For academic years 2017/18 and 2019/20, no data were available for LMU München, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Universität Leipzig, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau, Universität Augsburg, Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften München, Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen – THM, and Hochschule Darmstadt. No data were available for academic year 2019/20 for Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf. No data were available for winter term 2017/18 for Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, and Karlsruher Institut für Technologie. When combining the data for all three periods, the courses offered at these 13 universities were removed from each period.
Source: Based on HRK (2023[10]), Statistik - Hochschulen in Zahlen - 2022, https://www.hrk.de/themen/hochschulsystem/statistik/ (accessed on 11 October 2023).
Recommendations
Continue efforts to facilitate visa processes and immigration for AI-professionals through the amended FEG
The amendment of the FEG is a positive step for Germany’s competitiveness in the race for skilled workers, especially AI talent. It is essential to communicate these intentions abroad, actively recruit skilled workers, and support interested individuals accordingly. Germany already has numerous initiatives to this end. For example, “Make it in Germany” was created as a central information portal for interested foreign professionals (German Federal Government, 2023[11]). In addition, the “ProRecognition” project provides onsite advice on recognition for skilled workers in German Chambers of Commerce Abroad and German business delegations in ten countries (Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina/Western Balkans, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, India, Iran, Italy, Poland and Viet Nam) (Anerkennung in Deutschland, 2023[12]). Germany could expand this successful programme to other countries, in particular those with a high AI talent concentration, such as Bulgaria, Chile, Mexico or Norway (OECD.AI, 2023[13]).
The amended FEG is expected to simplify and accelerate visa application processes, rendering Germany more attractive to AI professionals. In practice, however, the low level of digitisation of the responsible authorities often hinders the rapid processing of applications. One reason is the postal dispatch of paper files (especially documents proving non-academic professional qualifications) between immigration authorities (Ausländerbehörden, ABHen) in Germany and applications and authorisations between ABHen and German foreign diplomatic representations Auslandsvertretungen, AVen). According to a study by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, BAMF), few authorities have digitised their documents and transferred them to e-files (BAMF, 2023[14]). It is imperative that Germany strengthen the digitisation of these to ensure a streamlined process that reinforces Germany as a jurisdiction of choice for global AI talent.
Increase course offerings in English and in ethical/human-centred AI across degree programmes and disciplines
First, Germany should increase the number of full AI degree programmes offered in English to boost their attractiveness for internationally mobile students. As discussed in the first recommendation of this chapter, facilitating visa processes and immigration through the amended FEG is crucial for attracting foreign AI professionals. At the same time, Germany can take a more proactive approach by seeking to attract pre‑trained international talent and nurturing foreign students interested in pursuing AI degrees within the country. To achieve this, enhancing the availability of AI education in English would be crucial, allowing Germany to access a more extensive pool of international AI talent.
Second, expanding the availability of ethical and human-centric AI courses and full-degree programmes can advance Germany’s strategic commitment to prioritising human-centric AI. Today's students are tomorrow’s AI developers. It is, therefore, essential that they do not regard AI ethics simply as a “nice to have” but actively incorporate fundamental AI principles such as those reflected in the 2019 OECD Recommendation on AI into their AI models and AI-enabled products and services, including fairness, transparency, safety, and accountability, among others. The foundation for this could be laid by introducing a mandatory, ethical/human-centred AI course in every AI degree programme.
Third, the offer of full AI master’s degree programmes could be increased to allow people specialised in different fields to further specialise in AI and to complement higher education in other domains (e.g. biology or law) with AI-specific skills. Combining domain expertise with understanding and management of AI will be increasingly crucial for adopting AI across sectors.
Fourth, introducing AI bootcamps or intensive course in AI would facilitate upskilling and possible career transitions of individuals holding master’s degrees in other domains. These programmes could also facilitate developing interdisciplinary skills by bridging the gap between domain-specific expertise and AI.
References
[8] Anerkennung in Deutschland (2023), “Einwanderung wird erleichtert”, https://www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de/html/de/aktuelles-neues-fachkraefteeinwanderungsgesetz.php (accessed on 11 October 2023).
[12] Anerkennung in Deutschland (2023), ProRecognition, https://www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de/html/de/pro/prorecognition.php (accessed on 8 December 2023).
[14] BAMF (2023), Entwicklung der Fachkräftemigration und Auswirkungen des beschleunigten Fachkräfteverfahrens, Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, https://www.bamf.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/DE/Forschung/Forschungsberichte/fb45-feg.html (accessed on 8 December 2023).
[2] BMBF (2022), “Stark-Watzinger: 100. zusätzliche KI-Professur wurde besetzt”, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, https://www.bmbf.de/bmbf/shareddocs/pressemitteilungen/de/2022/05/030522-KI-Professoren.html (accessed on 11 October 2023).
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[11] German Federal Government (2023), Make It In Germany, https://www.make-it-in-germany.com/en/ (accessed on 8 December 2023).
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[3] Humboldt Foundation (2023), Sieben Empfehlungen zur Künstlichen Intelligenz (KI) an die Deutsche Bundesregierung, https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/fileadmin/Bewerben/Programme/Alexander-von-Humboldt-Professur/Positionspapier_zur_Kuenstlichen_Intelligenz_Recommendations_on_AI.pdf (accessed on 20 October 2023).
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[7] OECD.AI (2023), Relative International AI Skill Demand, OECD, Paris, https://oecd.ai/en/data?selectedArea=ai-jobs-and-skills&selectedVisualization=relative-international-ai-skill-demand (accessed on 5 November 2023).
[5] Sequoia (2023), Atlas - Sequoia’s Guide to Europe’s Technical Talent, https://www.sequoiacap.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/06/Sequoia-Atlas-Final.pdf (accessed on 11 October 2023).
Note
← 1. “Full AI degree programmes” are defined as degree programmes containing in their title “Artificial Intelligence”, “AI”, “Machine Learning”, or “ML” in English or in their national language.