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What's the deal with working in Germany as a non-German speaker nowadays? Is it possible to get on alright in tech companies or are they still very much German

What's the deal with working in Germany as a non-German speaker nowadays? Is it possible to get on alright in tech companies or are they still very much German only?

claudius 13y ago
I met a couple of postdocs and such who didn’t speak German (and, in some cases, their English wasn’t all that good either) during my undergrad in Berlin. I guess it’s possible in larger companies or universities and larger cities where people are used to a fair deal of non-German speakers. But I wouldn’t suggest moving here permanently without knowing, or at least planning to learn, some German. After all, it’s a nice language with a decent amount of original content and if English is your native language probably one of the easier ones to learn.
Osmium 13y ago
Anecdotally (from personal experience) it's absolutely no problem at all, at least if it's tech/engineering-related. That said, picking up some German isn't too hard* and is probably recommended :) *I say this as someone learning through Duolingo at the moment.
- raverbashing 13y ago
  Go to Germany and try to use it, then you'll find out how hard or not it is
timme 13y ago
In Berlin: no problem. In the rest of Germany: probably problematic.
- raverbashing 13y ago
  This has been my experience as well
- parasight 13y ago
  I know several companies in Hamburg where English is the corporate language.
- brazzy 13y ago
  More accurately: In big cities - no problem.
brazzy 13y ago
In tech companies there should be relatively few problems. In my company of 25 people there have been 4 immigrants with poor German skills. Though I have to admit it's not a pretty sight when a Russian programmer is having a disagreement with a German project manager and both rely on mediocre English skills. The problem is not so much with direct miscommunication as with the inability to express more complex thoughts.
pjmlp 13y ago
Working at multinational technical companies it is not much of a problem as the work language tends to be English. However in many such companies employees might speak English with foreigner colleagues only for work related issues, leaving them alone for about anything else. Meaning little social interaction besides work requests. Being invited for lunch while most of the table speaks German can be a common scenario, for example. For an acceptable social life in Germany, having at least a basic grasp of German is a must have, specially outside big cities.
kamakazizuru 13y ago
You can get into tech companies and do well too. The problem is the softer side. Social life is just not the same as in other more integrative societies like the US or the UK.

What's the deal with working in Germany as a non-German speaker nowadays? Is it possible to get on alright in tech companies or are they still very much German only?

claudius 13y ago

I met a couple of postdocs and such who didn’t speak German (and, in some cases, their English wasn’t all that good either) during my undergrad in Berlin. I guess it’s possible in larger companies or universities and larger cities where people are used to a fair deal of non-German speakers. But I wouldn’t suggest moving here permanently without knowing, or at least planning to learn, some German. After all, it’s a nice language with a decent amount of original content and if English is your native language probably one of the easier ones to learn.

Osmium 13y ago

Anecdotally (from personal experience) it's absolutely no problem at all, at least if it's tech/engineering-related. That said, picking up some German isn't too hard* and is probably recommended :) *I say this as someone learning through Duolingo at the moment.

raverbashing 13y ago
Go to Germany and try to use it, then you'll find out how hard or not it is

timme 13y ago

In Berlin: no problem. In the rest of Germany: probably problematic.

raverbashing 13y ago
This has been my experience as well
parasight 13y ago
I know several companies in Hamburg where English is the corporate language.
brazzy 13y ago
More accurately: In big cities - no problem.

brazzy 13y ago

In tech companies there should be relatively few problems. In my company of 25 people there have been 4 immigrants with poor German skills. Though I have to admit it's not a pretty sight when a Russian programmer is having a disagreement with a German project manager and both rely on mediocre English skills. The problem is not so much with direct miscommunication as with the inability to express more complex thoughts.

pjmlp 13y ago

Working at multinational technical companies it is not much of a problem as the work language tends to be English. However in many such companies employees might speak English with foreigner colleagues only for work related issues, leaving them alone for about anything else. Meaning little social interaction besides work requests. Being invited for lunch while most of the table speaks German can be a common scenario, for example. For an acceptable social life in Germany, having at least a basic grasp of German is a must have, specially outside big cities.

kamakazizuru 13y ago

You can get into tech companies and do well too. The problem is the softer side. Social life is just not the same as in other more integrative societies like the US or the UK.