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International grads three times more likely to find work in Germany

New report argues Germany’s universities are increasingly functioning as skilled migration infrastructure amid mounting STEM shortages and growing pressure to retain international graduates.

by Abhishek Nair

May 28 2026

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Researchers argue universities are increasingly functioning as part of Germany’s skilled migration infrastructure, particularly as more than half of international students in Germany study STEM subjects. Photo: Unsplash

International graduates from German universities are three times more likely to find work than migrants arriving directly for employment, a new discussion paper has found.

Germany remains the world’s most popular non-English-speaking study destination, with researchers increasingly viewing higher education as central to addressing long-term labour shortages.

The paper, published by Stifterverband and DEGIS (Deutsche Gesellschaft internationaler Studierender), comes as Germany faces a shortage of around 148,500 STEM professionals, with a further 1.85 million workers expected to leave the labour market within the next decade.

Researchers argue universities are increasingly functioning as part of Germany’s skilled migration infrastructure, particularly as more than half of international students in Germany study STEM subjects.

“The three-times gap isn’t really about intelligence or ambition — direct labour migrants are highly qualified people,” Jonas Marggraf, managing director of DEGIS and co-author of the discussion paper, told The PIE News.

“It’s about everything that happens before the job search. By the time an international student starts applying, they’ve typically been in Germany for around four years. They’ve built a social network, improved their German, completed internships and a thesis — often with a company — and they hold a degree that German employers know how to read.”

The study draws on survey data from more than 6,400 international students, graduates and workers from 134 countries, including large cohorts from India, Syria, Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan.

Researchers found that practical exposure during studies — including internships, company-linked theses and field-related student jobs — significantly improved international graduates’ chances of finding work after graduation.

“Our data show that practical components in the curriculum, a field-related student job, and a professional network with Germans are the strongest predictors of a successful transition,” said Marggraf.

“The university years are where those things get built. That is the structural advantage — and it’s why immigration through higher education needs to be treated as Germany’s most important skilled-migration channel, not as a side route.”

The findings come as Germany increasingly shifts from a student recruitment approach towards a broader “study-to-stay” strategy focused on long-term retention. Marggraf argued that while “the intent has been on paper for a while” through policies such as the 2022 Skilled Workers Strategy, “what’s changing now is that the evidence base is catching up with the rhetoric".

The honest answer is that Germany has been good at attracting students and average at retaining them<br>Jonas Marggraf, DEGIS

According to the paper, internationals who immigrate through higher education are 1.6 times more likely to want to stay in Germany permanently, while around 26% of respondents who initially planned only a temporary stay later decided they wanted to remain in Germany long term after entering the labour market.

“That is an enormous lever, but only if universities, employers and policymakers actually treat the student-to-worker transition as one connected pathway rather than two separate policy fields,” Marggraf said.

“With around 1.85 million STEM workers — nearly a quarter of the STEM workforce — set to leave the labour market within the next decade, and roughly 55% of internationals studying STEM subjects, the math is simply unavoidable.”

“The honest answer is that Germany has been good at attracting students and average at retaining them.”

“Definitely, yes,” said Thomas Oeldemann, executive assistant to the rectorate at TU Dortmund University, when asked whether German universities now increasingly view international students not just as learners but also as future workers Germany hopes to retain.

“The federal government and the Länder adopted a strategy for the internationalisation of the higher education institutions in Germany (2024-2034) in summer 2024. This paper clearly states the importance of international students as future workers in Germany.”

“Additionally, with the adoption of the Act on the Further Development of Skilled Worker Immigration, the...