11% of young Germans are more interested in working abroad since Coronavirus but…

11% of young Germans are more interested in working abroad since Coronavirus but…

Talingual continues to see high demand for native German speakers for customer service, sales, and marketing roles. Given that approximately 100 million people in Europe speak German as their first language, any international business operating in Europe needs German language skills. The Coronavirus crisis has not changed this.

What has changed however is that employers are being more flexible in how they attract German-speaking staff. Talingual is currently recruiting for German-speaking roles where the candidate begins by working from home. Initial training is provided remotely and a laptop is sent to the new employee’s home. It is intended that the new employee will relocate to the employer’s location once travel restrictions are lifted.

A snapshot survey published today by Talingual indicates that:

  • The majority of young Germans are less interested in working abroad since the Coronavirus crisis began.
  • 35% of young German women have not changed their view on working abroad and 15% of young German men are now more interested.
  • Germans aged 25-34 are slightly more interested in working abroad as a result of the Coronavirus crisis than are their younger counterparts.

These findings are outlined in more detail below.

Most young Germans are less interested in working abroad

Although there is an encouraging minority who are more interested to work abroad, a majority of 61% responded that they are less interested in working abroad since the Coronavirus crisis. For context and long before Coronavirus was a factor, our March 2019 survey found that 50% of young Germans intended to never work abroad.

In the middle of the scale, 28% of today’s respondents indicated that the Coronavirus crisis has not changed their interest in working abroad.

Young German women are less likely to be influenced by Coronavirus crisis

Just over one-third of female respondents stated that their interest in working abroad is unchanged. This compares with one-fifth of males who gave the same response. It is also notable that 15% of male respondents are more interested in working abroad since the crisis began.

Approximately 15% of respondents aged 25-34 are more interested in working abroad

Analysing the responses by age grouping reveals that the strongest negative reaction to working abroad is held equally by those aged 18-24 and those aged 25-34. In comparison to their younger counterparts, respondents aged 25-34 are somewhat more interested to work abroad with approximately 15% indicating an increased interest since the crisis began.

About this survey

The survey was conducted online in German between 6th and 9th April 2020 with a target audience of 202 respondents resident in Germany and aged between 18 and 34.

About Talingual

Talingual is a specialist multilingual recruitment agency serving clients across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. See www.talingual.com for more information.