Over 70% Indians in Germany find right job, fit into workforce, but language a major hurdle: Study

Even as a majority of Indian students migrating to Germany intend to eventually return home, around a quarter of them end up prolonging their stay thanks to suitable employment opportunities and path to residency, reveals a recent survey by an advocacy group for international students in the European country.

On the flip side, the study also shows that one in ten students who initially planned to stay long-term have now decided to leave Germany, as Indians tend to lag behind other nationalities when it comes to learning the German language and landing their first job.

The findings have been documented in a discussion paper titled ‘Between Graduation and Career Entry: Internationals’ Employability Framework’ by the German Association for International Students or ‘DEGIS’. The organisation, which describes itself as a policy lab and community platform, has published this report based on a survey among 6,745 students and graduates from 134 nationalities.

Most Indians enter to study in Germany

With 765 respondents, Indians constitute the biggest cohort in this exercise. DEGIS attributes the rapidly-swelling presence of Indians to the immigration restrictions in English-speaking countries. "Indians are already the largest group of international students in Germany — just under 59,500 in the 2024/25 winter semester, up 20% in a single year and roughly double the 2020 figure. Part of that is a global shift: as the US, UK and Canada tighten student visas — US rejection rates for Indian applicants reached around 61% and Canada refused close to 80% in 2025, while Germany approves around 90% — students look for alternatives,” said Jonas Marggraf, managing director of the organisation.

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The paper shows that while the experience of Indian students and professionals in Germany largely mirrors that of other migrants, there are a few points of departure from the general trend, too. For instance, the study found that the Indians overwhelmingly enter Germany to first pursue higher education, rather than directly seek employment. As many as 69% of Indian respondents pursue master’s programmes in the country, compared to only 49% of other entrants to the country.

Jobs in Germany for Indians

This opens wider avenues for the Indian aspirants, as the paper concludes that those with German university education are three times more likely to find work in the country. It also establishes that the graduates with post-graduation qualifications find employment 1.6 times as often as with a bachelor's degree.

The Indian students’ choice of academic disciplines, however, is similar to their peers from other nations and in keeping with the job market — around 44% are pursuing engineering, including computer science, followed by 28% studying business and management.

“That lines up with Germany's real needs: the country is short of around 148,500 STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] professionals, and 1.85 million STEM workers — nearly a quarter of the workforce — are over 55 and about to retire. So Indian graduates in exactly these fields have excellent prospects,” said Marggraf.

The paper says that most of the Indians find the right job in Germany, with 74% working in a role directly related to their field of study and 76% expressing satisfaction with their experience in the country. Despite their relatively below par proficiency in German language, Indians report better assimilation into the country’s society and workforce. As many as 54% find it easy to integrate into German working culture — well above the 41% of other expats — and 80% build a network that includes Germans compared to the others’ 63%.

This translates into a considerable chunk of Indian students changing their career plans. While the study found a smaller portion of students from India – 39% versus 51% among other nationalities – originally intended to stay permanently in Germany, 27% of them now want to stay longer or for good. The overall mean for this parameter is slightly lower at 26.1%.

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"For many Indians, what tips the balance is a career foothold — a job, a professional network, and a real path to residence. The study shows it plainly: internationals who arrive intending to stay only temporarily become 60% more likely to want to stay permanently once they find a job. Those who came through higher education are about 1.6 times more likely to extend their stay,” said Marggraf.

German language hurdle

Paradoxically, Indians are also more eager than others to return when their long-term plans don’t pan out. As many as 9.6% of Indians who initially intended to stay longer in Germany now want to leave. The comparable figure for all the nationalities is merely 5.6%.

Limited proficiency in German language remains the biggest sore spot for aspirants from India. Only 37% of the Indians surveyed by DEGIS reported reaching the ‘strong’ level of German. For others, this proportion is considerably higher at 49%. This is because most of the Indians – 84%, compared to overall 80% – take up courses in English language and hence need less German during their university years.

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“The smoother route into studying in Germany becomes the barrier to picking up more German. Only about 15% have a German course built into their curriculum, so it's left to personal initiative on top of a full degree — and it shows: Indian participants report significantly lower German proficiency than other internationals," said Marggraf.

This directly results in the Indians having to wait longer for their first jobs. The survey found that 17% of the currently employed Indians had to search for jobs for over a year, while only 8% from other countries waited this long.

“German proficiency is one of the central levers on how quickly someone finds an adequate job — the study shows around 41% of those still searching have been looking for more than six months, and about 17% for more than a year," explained Marggraf.

The organisation bats for job-integrated German support for migrant graduates.

Indian students agree that Germany is good at winning over those reluctant to stay in the country. A software engineer from Bhiwandi in Maharashtra, who moved to Germany in 2022 to do a master’s course in Human Factors Engineering (HEF) decided to stay put after finding a job that offered German language training. “I opted for it due to language benefits, and because it would allow me to study more,” he said.

The engineer, however, said that for most of the expat students the decision to return, or not, often hinges on the opportunities available to them back home. “Many students from more developed parts of the world usually go back after pursuing education. Some shift base to English-speaking countries. In my case, since I already had prior work experience in India, it was relatively easier to get job offers,” he said.