Top 20: Many technical training occupations with good financial prospects

Of the top 20 training occupations with the best average salary, most are technically oriented or in construction. According to a study by the Institute of the German Economy (IW), skilled workers with training there earn significantly more in the medium term than people with an academic degree.

In 2023, the median salary of skilled workers subject to social security contributions who had completed full-time training was just over 3,500 euros. Even at the age of under 40, employees in some professions were already earning significantly more. This applies, for example, to technical research and development specialists, who top the ranking. Between the ages of 20 and 39, they earned an average of 5670 euros gross. These workers are employed in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products and motor vehicles and vehicle parts.

In second place in the ranking is aerospace engineering. Here, the gross median wage is 5108 euros, while in insurance and financial services it is 5021 euros in third place. Energy and power plant technology (4945 euros) and technical production planning and control (4940 euros) follow in fourth and fifth place among the occupations with the top salaries for 20 to 39-year-old skilled workers with training. In computer engineering, employees earn a median income of 4628 euros, with computer science in 19th place at 4237 euros.

Many positions remain vacant in some professions

Companies are having great difficulty filling vacancies in some of the training occupations in the top 20, the authors of the study write, concluding that a wage increase alone is not enough to eliminate the shortage of skilled workers. "Rather, the attractiveness of a profession and employer is influenced by a variety of aspects," the report states.

For example, there is currently a shortage of almost 14,000 people with qualifications in electronics or industrial electrics. "These skilled workers are desperately needed in the manufacture of cars and car parts as well as in energy supply, for example," the study states. Employees there work with electrical equipment and systems, for example.

It is also difficult for companies to find specialists in surgical/medical technical assistance. Here, a good seven out of ten of all vacancies nationwide remained unfilled. "It is similarly difficult to fill vacancies for technical service staff in maintenance and repair who have completed training as an automation specialist." Between July 2023 and June 2024, more than six out of ten (65.4%) vacancies in this occupation remained unfilled.

At the same time, nine occupational fields in the top 20 are not affected by the shortage of skilled workers, such as energy and power plant technology.

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