Berlin Tech Salaries in 2019
Published: 01. March 2019
Author: CaissaTeam
As tech recruiters, we at Caissa talk a lot to technology people who are thinking to relocate to Berlin. One of the first questions they ask us is,
“What will I be paid here?”
Our last year’s survey shows that Berlin-based developers and engineers are also concerned with their potential income in a new position. When accepting a job offer, 73.2% of candidates would base their decision on the salary offered.
Now, let’s try to answer the following two questions:
- Why is the salary so important?
- What are the salaries in Berlin?
Berlin was dubbed “poor but sexy” in 2003. With an image like this, the city’s former mayor Klaus Wowereit wanted to attract investors, tourists, and young professionals. And it worked.
What’s funny, the slogan has been associated with the city ever since, even though the “poor” part of it is not really true anymore.
Berlin is, indeed, cheaper than most of the major European locations, including London, Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin, Stockholm, Milan, Zurich, and even big German cities like Munich, Stuttgart or Frankfurt. However, it’s getting more expensive to live here. Mainly, due to increasing rent prices (by 34% only between 2015 and 2018!).
With Berlin becoming a major EU tech hub, there is a strong need for tech professionals. And it’s natural that those who move here would want their salary to ensure a comfortable life at a new place.
But not all employers are willing to pay more.
Based on a number of sources (Glassdoor, Stepstone, one independent survey, and our internal data), we’ve made a graph of salary ranges. This data is based on what Berlin’s engineers, developers, and tech managers earned or were offered in 2018.
As you can see, the difference between the minimum and maximum amounts is really big.
- First of all, we didn’t distinguish between experience levels.
- Secondly, one’s salary after 8 years with the same company in Berlin will normally differ from the salary of someone who changed jobs within the last year.
To make sense of our graph, we’ve looked at the most prevalent salary offers in 2018 across different specialisations (Backend, Frontend, DevOps, and Management) and seniority levels (Middle and Senior, in case of engineers).
We’ve managed to map out the mode salary ranges for the following roles:
As you are reading this, the market demand is growing, as do salaries that candidates ask for. By the start of this year, the modes have already shifted towards the upper end of our spans.
Based on our observations and market research, the mode salaries are likely to get higher by 10–15% as we advance into 2019.
Local technology businesses will have to adjust to the changing market situation and start incentivising their employees with market-level salaries. This will surely help to deal with the talent shortage in Berlin.
Originally published at www.caissa-global.com.
