After graduating from high school, many young people move to a new city to study, often even to a new federal state. This migration seems to repeat itself years later, after successful completion of studies. This is shown by the “Fachkraft 2020” study series by Studitemps.de and the Department of Labor Economics at Maastricht University.
Educating a student is a costly affair for the individual federal state; a mid-five-figure amount can quickly add up per student. All 16 German federal states are investing heavily in young academics. But only four benefit from this: Hamburg, Berlin, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Only in these four federal states do more graduates immigrate than emigrate after completing their studies.
“HR managers in companies need strategies to combat this migration. Our study shows that early career commitment among students as well as the prospect of secure employment and a good starting salary can effectively counteract this,” says Studitemps founder and managing director Benjamin Roos. Companies in the twelve loser federal states in particular are well advised to look for suitable young talent at an early stage and to show students prospects in their own company.
For graduates looking for a job , this means that a look outside of Hamburg, Berlin, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg may reveal unexpected job gems. Instead of going from Kassel to Berlin, it could then go to Erfurt, for example.
