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Top 10 German firms with the highest-paid employees

Jobs and recruiting site Glassdoor has published a list of the top 10 German companies whose employees have the largest median income.

Top 10 German firms with the highest-paid employees
Photo: DPA

Heading up Glassdoor's list is consultancy firm Roland Berger, in joint first place with industrial group Siemens. The median income of employees from both of these companies is a massive €80,720 per annum.

The term “income” takes into account a) the basic salary, b) any bonuses and c) any other personal remunerations, over the course of one year.

So which companies offer the highest salaries? Here’s Glassdoor's list of each company and the median income that their employees receive.

  1. Roland Berger: Median income – €80,720. Sector: consultancy

  2. Siemens: Median income – €80,720. Sector: industry

  3. BASF: Median income  – €76,684. Sector: industry

  4. Robert Bosch: Median income – €75,675. Sector: industry

  5. Bayer AG: Median income – €70,630. Sector: industry

  6. Commerzbank: Median income – €70,630. Sector: banking

  7. Daimler: Median income – €70,630. Sector: automobile industry

  8. Deutsche Bank: Median income – €70,630. Sector: banking

  9. Continental: Median income – €65,585. Sector: automobile industry/supply industry

  10. SAP: Median income – €65,000. Sector: technology

Traditional German companies pay better salaries

The results indicated that companies with a long-standing tradition in Germany tend to shell out more for salaries.

Each business in the top 10 list has its head office in Germany.

So if you want to strike it rich, German-based companies are the place to work.  

Skilled workers are “important”

“An important factor for higher salaries is the development of technology combined with skills which are in high demand,” Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Chief Economist at Glassdoor, told the Berliner Zeitung. “Economists often mention the “Superstar-Effect” with regards to this link,” he added.

Chamberlain went on to state, “Competent workers are important for the continued success of a company.”
 
For businesses which are looking to develop their global profile, it is important that employees are highly qualified. “But in this case, the demand is obviously larger than the supply”, Chamberlain said.

Therefore, two things are essential if the demand is to be satisfied, according to Chamberlain. Firstly, highly qualified workers must be remunerated accordingly. Secondly, potential applicants must be offered a reasonable salary in the recruitment process.

Higher stress equals higher pay

Chamberlain maintains that in the banking sector in particular, stress levels are often “particularly high”.

“Long working hours coupled with stress and high risks lead to employees receiving higher salaries,” he went on to state.

Need for greater transparency about salaries

Most people are completely in the dark about how much their colleagues earn – it’s still a taboo topic of conversation.

Only 4 out of 10 German employees know how much their co-workers are paid, of whom only 50% found the information out from the co-workers themselves, a study undertaken by Glassdoor has shown.

Due to this lack of openness, 6 out of 10 German employees think that companies should be required to be more transparent about salaries.

Despite this, 72% of Germans are reluctant to talk about their own salary to other people.

However, 45% would be willing to share information about their earnings, if it was completely anonymous.

Information about results

Glassdoor’s results are based on salary information for the period between July 1st 2014 and June 30th 2016.

Companies that were included were those who published information about 20 of their German employees’ salaries in this time period.

When calculating the total salary of an employee, the firms had to take into account the employee's basic salary as well as other forms of remuneration.

The data provided is the median yearly salary of employees from each company.

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WORKING IN GERMANY

Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Bavaria is no doubt a beautiful state with a strong economy, but can be a hard place for non-German speakers to integrate. The Local takes a look at job opportunities in Germany’s southeastern 'Free State.'

Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Munich ranks third in German cities with the highest total GDP, behind Berlin and Hamburg, but in terms of GDP per capita, it’s higher than both of them.

It also consistently ranks high, often highest, in terms of average household income.

As of 2023, nine of the 40 companies listed on DAX, Germany’s stock index, were based in Bavaria. Seven of those are based specifically in Munich.

While Frankfurt is commonly known to be Germany’s business capital, Munich can claim the title of Germany’s insurance capital, which is saying something, as Germany is home to some of the largest insurance firms in the world, like Allianz.

Beyond the state’s capital city, a number of international companies are based elsewhere in Bavaria, particularly in the Franken region, near Nuremberg.

Which companies actively hire English speakers?

Bavaria, and Munich in particular, is home to a number of companies at the forefront of international business. But the state is known for its traditional, sometimes conservative, culture, which affects its business culture as well.

Whereas companies embracing English as their primary business language are easy to find in Berlin, the practice is less common in the south. That said, there are some notable exceptions. 

Sportswear giants, Adidas and Puma, both have their headquarters near Nuremberg in Herzogenaurach, and regularly recruit English speaking international talent.

“As an international company, our teams reflect the rich diversity of our consumers and communities,” Jon Greenhalgh, Senior Manager Media Relations for Adidas told The Local. “Fostering a culture of inclusion where we value and leverage differences, ensures that we can authentically engage with our employees and truly connect with our consumers.”

He added that around 40 per cent of Adidas’ Germany-based employees are foreign nationals, from over 100 different countries.

Siemens and BMW rank among Bavaria’s top employers, and are also known to hire their fair share of foreigners.

“In Germany, we recently had around 2,000 open positions,” Konstanze Somborn told The Local on behalf of Siemens AG.

He added that Siemens operates in 190 countries. “That is why we value international teams very much…English as a common language is very usual.”

READ ALSO: ‘Which German companies want to hire foreigners?’

Similarly, BMW hires workers from a variety of backgrounds. 

“Every year, we hire lots of internationals and welcome them to the BMW Group,” Dr. Hans-Peter Ketterl, a press spokesman for BMW Group told The Local. 

But not all of these positions are available to non-German speakers.

Ketterl added that BMW’s working language is German in the country, even though, “English is an indispensable entry requirement as the second corporate language in many areas of the company.”

Check job boards and follow best practices

If it’s your first time applying for jobs in Germany, make sure to change your resume to the German format, even for English positions.

While Germany is home to its own job boards, like Xing, LinkedIn is probably the best place to start. In addition to searching for positions based in your preferred location, you can check relevant groups, like Munich Startups, to broaden your horizons.

The English Jobs in Germany website is also a good resource to start with. 

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