BERLIN’S DECADE LONG DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES
What’s on this week?
Berlin’s decade long demographic changes. Books are all the rage again. Project 2025 extended to the EU. 10 funded startups. Shops want to open on Sundays. Why you’re getting rejected from Berghain.
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Community News
🤝 News from our community.
⭐ Our last poll asked: On average, how many interviews do you have with a single German company? More than half of respondents said they’ve been subjected to three or more interviews during their job searches.
⭐ Take part in this week’s poll: What’s the most “German” thing you’ve accidentally started doing?
⭐ Recent podcast episodes: Nothing new. In the meantime, listen to past episodes.
⭐ This week’s featured Berlin Life guides: Send A Thank You Note After A Job Interview In Germany & Sentiments of Foreigners Living in Germany: Insights & Trends 2024 👉 Better yet, read all our 50+ free guides to living and working in Germany.
⭐ ICYMI: Last week’s edition – Last week’s edition – International Students Are Good for Germany. 👉 Browse our archives for lots of helpful information.
⭐ Our events: Our next community mixer is on April 16. Everyone is welcome to come hang out with us at the Muted Horn. Sign up. 👉 Subscribe to our calendar to be notified about upcoming events.
⭐ Berlin Life Hacks: Talent Berlin has informative guides on visas and resident permits for non-EU folks. 👉 Read more Berlin Life Hacks.
⭐ Berlin Events: International students in Berlin can apply to join a three-day career-changing event with media giant Bertelsmann. Also, the Offroad Collective invites you on an immersive mixed-media dance performance journey that blurs the boundaries between the onscreen and offscreen world, unpacking the archetypes, stereotypes, and cliches displayed in media with a strong focus on the concept of gender.
Food For Thought
💡 Interesting articles about the world of work and other random things.
The World of Work
⭐ Case in point that billionaire CEOs like to cosplay as evil villains is Snapchat, where they set employees up to fail on day 1.
⭐ Thoughtworks staff are examining AI’s impact on software engineering jobs, examining whether the profession will become obsolete and pave the way for emerging practices like “vibe coding.”
⭐ This also raises the question of the long-term sustainability of white-collar and knowledge-based work.
⭐ This is a (supposedly) real leak from a recruiter who shared their company’s internal candidate selection guidelines and how they wildly differed from the public job posting.
All Things Tech
⭐ Perplexity is considering buying TikTok’s American entity, saying it would rebuild the core algorithm and make it open source. It’s also thinking about jumping on the community notes bandwagon because we’ve all seen how well it works at X.
⭐ Meanwhile, Germany’s TikTok users will soon benefit from Shops.
⭐ Meta’s Facebook introduced a “new” feature: the Friends tab, which is really just … Facebook.
⭐ Sign me up. A new social media app, Sez Us, scores users on how well they behave and doesn’t allow things like rage baiting.
⭐ Teen Vogue (one of the few media publications keeping it real these days), wrote about how social media is an outrage trap.
Random Life Things
⭐ Physical books are back, with Barnes and Noble enjoying a resurgence in the US.
⭐ America’s far-right is so racist that the FCC received multiple complaints about Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show not being … white enough.
⭐ Europeans are being asked to turn into doomsday preppers, with Brussels advising everyone to have a 72-hour emergency kit on hand.
⭐ Related?! The Heritage Foundation (authors of the US’s Project 2025) has targeted the EU, recently hosting a meeting with European far-right parties.
Companies Hiring
🇩🇪 Companies in Germany hiring right now.
⭐ HelloFresh – Berlin & Magdeburg | Jobs (110 openings)
⭐ Nebius – Berlin & remote | Jobs (4 openings)
⭐ OLX – Berlin & remote | Jobs (3 openings)
⭐ Thermo Fisher Scientific – Various German locations | Jobs (107 openings)
⭐ Treelly – Berlin & remote | Jobs (3 openings)
🇩🇪 German startups that recently raised new funding also have vacancies.
⭐ AI Coustics – €5 M | Berlin | Jobs
⭐ AmberSearch – €2.1 | Aachen | Jobs
⭐ AMBOSS – €240 M | Berlin | Jobs
⭐ Differential Bio – €2 M | Munich | Jobs
⭐ Experial – €2 M | Wuppertal | Jobs
⭐ Marvel Fusion – €50 M | Munich | Jobs
⭐ mo:re: – €2.3 | Hamburg | Jobs
⭐ n8n – €60 M | Berlin | Jobs
⭐ recalm – €3 M | Hamburg | Jobs
⭐ Specter Automation – €5 M | Cologne | Jobs
General News
⭐ The Deutschland ticket will remain, but prices will increase in 2027.
⭐ Meanwhile, the Deutsche Bahn has their work cut out for them. Hopefully, some of the infrastructure money will go their way.
⭐ Holy bleep! The director of the Checkpoint Charlie museum recently gave birth to her 10th child … at age 66.
⭐ RBB studied which nationalities have come and gone from Berlin in the last decade, with the number of Indian nationals jumping more than 1000%.
Politics & Economy
⭐ In quite a reversal from the 1930s, Germany is ready to welcome American academics fleeing repression.
⭐ Conveniently forgetting war crimes, the CDU and the far-right want to fill Russian coffers with our money and turn Nordstream back on again.
⭐ Berlin’s counter-protest game is strong, blocking a Neo-Nazi demonstration from taking place last weekend. Also, tourists may be canceling trips to German states where the AfD has a majority.
⭐ Insolvencies are unfortunately surging in Germany. Germany’s unemployment rate went to 6.3% in March.
⭐ Deutsche Bank says that the markets responded so well to lifting the debt brake that we basically got $1 T for “free.”
⭐ Politico outlines the wildest things about the new parliament. The Local highlights what we can expect.
⭐ A top court ruled that we must continue paying the solidarity tax.
⭐ Shops in Germany are asking to be allowed to open on Sundays.
⭐ Isar Aerospace, which is about to launch Europe’s first commercial rocket. Also, Green steel shows promise and may help ailing steel giants like Thyssenkrupp.
Immigration & Labour Market
⭐ About how Berlin could become a hub for female startup founders.
⭐ The German government has found money for defense and infrastructure but not for giving BVG workers a decent pay raise. Despite working in the capital, they make less than all public transit workers in Germany.
⭐ Tesla workers at Berlin’s Gigafactory are finally fighting back against Elon’s nightmarish (and illegal) working conditions.
Fun, Interesting, and/or Useful
⭐ Berlin is no longer poor but sexy -how to enjoy Berlin on a budget.
⭐ Spring’s kinda sorta here, so check out Berlin’s best beer gardens.
⭐ Swoon. Alternatively, hike along this German culinary eating trail or take one of these five affordable (and stunning!) train rides.
⭐ Someone actually did a study into the “logic” of Berghain rejections.
⭐ And someone else took on the challenge to explain why Berlin’s buildings are “so weird.”
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Berlin’s decade long demographic changes certainly show a change in the vibe of the city. What do you think the future holds for the German capital?
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Cheryl Howard, Founder @ The Berlin Life
Hi, I’m Cheryl. My mission is to help you move to Berlin and find work.
A Canadian in Berlin for 10+ years, I have the unique experience of moving to Berlin – not once, but twice. During my time in Berlin, I’ve had five different visas and worked as both a freelancer and a permanent employee for numerous Berlin companies. I even managed to find a new job during the pandemic and again in 2023, during Germany’s recession and massive layoffs in tech.
My day job has involved work as a hiring manager, overseeing the recruitment of countless people, as well as a team coach helping teams and individuals work better and find happiness in their careers. Through my side projects, I’ve also shared my personal experiences by publishing a series of helpful blog posts, creating a thriving community of job seekers, and hosting events to help people find work in Berlin. In 2021, I decided to put my coaching and recruiting talents to use by creating The Berlin Life, bringing my existing content and community together in one spot.
The combination of my personal and professional experience means I know exactly what it takes to move to Berlin and find work.