Overview
of occupational areas

Service moves to the top of the rankings

Job vacancies in the sample can be classified in seven different occupational areas, each containing four professional fields. The occupational area Service made up the largest percentage of the job vacancies analyzed, placing it well above its long-time average (16.8 %). Service includes professions in the areas of healthcare and nursing, as well as hospitality and service. The occupational area rose by four places; almost one in five open positions is in this area. It made up the largest share of the overall sample for the first time since data has been collected (2011: 25.9 %).

Source: DEKRA Akademie 2024
Base: 10,460 job vacancies

The occupational area of Development, in contrast, gave up its top spot, which it had held since 2018. This was due to a drop in demand in some careers, for instance in IT or engineering. This percentage has only been below this level once previously (2010: 16.0 %).

The downward trend in Consulting seems to have strengthened; the occupational area dropped below its low values in 2023 and 2022 once again. The same trend is seen in Development, which had no careers among the top ten for the first time since data has been collected.

The occupational area of Infrastructure also dropped somewhat, primarily driven by reductions in the warehouse logistics area. Infrastructure made up the second largest percentage among the occupational areas in 2023. Over the long-term, however, this occupational area is trending upward, and it still makes up a percentage above its long-term average of 11.1 %. The work areas of warehouse logistics and maintenance, in particular, require large numbers of personnel, even if demand for the former has currently dropped due to the economic cool-down.

The positions of the other three occupational areas are almost unchanged from the previous year. The percentages for Production and Office have even increased slightly.

Further details on the occupational areas

Infrastructure   Service   Office   Production   Processing   Development   Consulting