ARE WORKER RIGHTS IN GERMANY DECLINING?
What’s on this week?
Threats of no public holidays and financial penalties for illness. 100 new German citizens a day in Berlin. Hiring and recruiting trends for 2025. Surprising art in Berlin’s U-Bahn.
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Personal News & Musings
🫣 Sometimes, I’ll overshare and/or rant a bit.
This past week has been weird. Things are well personally, but the never-ending insanity of the news cycle is taking its toll on my mental health. The Germans even have a word for it.
Weltschmerz: A feeling of sadness and lack of hope about the state of the world, made up of the words “Welt”, meaning world, and “Schmerz” meaning pain. – Cambridge Dictionary
Reading this helped, and maybe it will help you too: Outrage Fatigue Is Real. These Tips May Help.
Community News
🤝 News from our community.
⭐ Our last poll asked: What’s in your plans for 2025? 91 people responded, with 50% saying they plan to quit their job for another, 24% hoping for a raise, 19% looking forward to a promotion, and 8% saying they plan to quit their job for a sabbatical.
🚀 For you job seekers out there, my career coaching and job application review services are again open for business.
⭐ Take part in this week’s poll: 🇩🇪 Which German city do you think offers the best job opportunities?
⭐ This week’s featured Berlin Life guides: Avoiding Embarrassing German Interview Mistakes: Dos and Don’ts & The Top Relocation Companies in Berlin, Germany.
⭐ ICYMI: Last week’s newsletter, Where to Look for Jobs in Germany. For past editions, browse our archives.
⭐ Save money with our partners:
💫Use resume.io to quickly and easily create nicely designed CVs and cover letters. Stop worrying about formatting and spend more time creating valuable job application content.
💫 Upskill yourself with SPICED Academy, a tech boot camp offering intensive 12-week Web Development, Data Science, Data Analytics & UX/UI Design courses. If you’re registered as unemployed in Germany, you could even do one of their courses for free.
Food For Thought
💡 Interesting articles about the world of work and other random things.

⭐ Do you know your colleagues with those “pick me vibes” – the ones who always have the loudest voice in the room? It turns out that their approach is NOT a secret to success.
⭐ Using LinkedIn and ChatGPT effectively during your job search is hard. Here are some tips about how to make the most of both tools.
⭐ Hypocritical executives are busy rolling out RTO mandates but don’t bother coming into the office themselves – making remote work an increasingly classist practice for wealthy elites.
⭐ 🤬 TikTok told employees affected by the LA fires to use personal and sick days if they cannot work from home.
⭐ A new brand of consultants is rising – Gen Zs helping companies better understand their employees.
⭐ In its ongoing quest for efficiency, Google has laid off 10% of those in management positions and has also been streamlining its teams.
⭐ Hiring trends to know for 2025, as well as recruitment predictions.
⭐🚶An essay on why walking helps us think and is so good for our physical and mental health.
Companies Hiring
🇩🇪 Companies in Germany hiring right now.
⭐ AchtBerlin (Berlin, 1 job, EN & DE required)
⭐ Delivery Hero (Berlin, 72 jobs, EN &/or DE required)
⭐ Leapsome (Berlin, 9 jobs, EN &/or DE required)
⭐ Noir (Various locations & remote, 100+ jobs, EN &/or DE required) Note: Noir is a Microsoft recruitment agency.
⭐ SWARCO (Berlin & Recklinghausen, 6 jobs, EN &/or DE required)
🇩🇪 German startups that recently raised new funding also have vacancies.
⭐ Apheris (€20 M) | Berlin | Jobs
⭐ Sunfire (€200 M) | Dresden | Jobs
ℹ️ Follow us on LinkedIn, where we share new job postings daily.
General News
⭐ 2024 was Germany’s first year without nuclear energy and their cleanest year on record, with 59% of energy coming from renewables.
⭐ However, short grey days during winter find us sourcing more expensive electricity from other EU members, as well as gas and coal plants.
⭐ Construction on a hydrogen core grid will also commence this year.
⭐ 🚗 An annual report of traffic jams in German cities confirms Berliners experienced the worst congestion.
⭐ More than a quarter million people signed a petition to ban fireworks on NYE.
Politics
⭐ Despite the tragedy of his time in office, the SPD once again nominated Scholz as their chancellor-elect. Since the CDU/CSU is pretty much “AfD light,” the party hopes for an election miracle.
⭐ In a sign that not all hope is lost, 10,000+ people showed up to protest the Nazi AfD party conference this weekend. Despite everything, they talked about massive deportations, turning Nordstream on to fund Russia’s war, and tearing down windmills because they “drive the whales crazy.” 💀
⭐ It feels like an oxymoron kind of situation, but immigrants in Germany are also throwing their support at the AfD.
Economy
⭐ The Berlin-Brandenburg Association of Businesses wants to scrap some of our public holidays since we’re more in debt than other German states.
⭐ Last week, we shared news about a new rent calculator launched by Die Linke. Since going online, it has found more than 22,000 cases of rent exploitation.
⭐ Pensioner poverty is increasing in Germany, with more than three million people in danger.
⭐ The UK has overtaken Germany as Europe’s largest EV market.
⭐ A list of Europe’s most valuable startups and scaleups, with four German companies featured.
⭐ Sifted offers up its 2025 predictions for German tech, including a continued focus on AI and surging demand for talent to help the country reach its decarbonization goals.
Immigration & Labor Market
⭐ ✈️ There’s always a bright spot along the horizon – Luthansa plans to hire 10,000 people in 2025.
⭐ Due to turning political tides, the inevitable has happened. Germany saw fewer asylum applications in 2024.
⭐ If elected, the CSU would impose a minimum salary requirement on anyone wanting a residency permit – even if you’re gainfully employed.
⭐ Anti-immigration rhetoric be damned, Berlin is producing 100 new German citizens per day. That’s about 3,000 people a month and 36,000 newbies a year. 💪
⭐ Instead of making bold economic reform, they want to deprive people not only of their holidays but sick days, too. Allianz’s CEO proposes deducting an employee’s salary for each first sick day taken (ahem, a “rich” statement for a man who takes home €7.5 M annually). Instead of working to weed out people who take advantage of their sick days, they seek to punish everyone. 😤
⭐ Doctors counter the allegation that people are abusing sick days, saying that more people are coming in with acute infections than ever before.
Fun, Interesting, and/or Useful
⭐ The Berliner recommends the top podcasts for learning German, the best places to get mocktails during Dry January, and some of the top spots in Berlin for those doing Veganuary. They also round up things to do in Berlin throughout January.
⭐ German is the official language of six countries around the globe. As one might expect, they’re all in Europe.
⭐ Birkenstock is seeking to get its unique designs recognized as art.
⭐ Linguists have selected Germany’s non-words of the year popularized by political discourse. “Winners” include remigration, Corona dictatorship, and alternative facts (a phrase coined by America’s biggest Trump fangirl, Kellyanne Conway). 🤡
⭐ Joy is coming to Berlin’s U-Bahn through unlikely art installations.
⭐ If you need to escape from Berlin but not go too far away out of town, consider this spa getaway in Brandenburg.
⭐ An inspiring read, if there ever was one about how the fitted kitchen changed society for the better. Invented by a German woman who lived to be 103, she was also the kind of hero we all need right now, as she stood against the Nazis.
How We Can Help
😇 Good stuff from the Berlin Life.
⭐ Get help preparing for job interviews and creating standout job applications through our career coaching and review services.
⭐ Connect with other professionals in Germany with our LinkedIn Connect & Exchange list.
⭐ Settle into your new life in Germany and save money with our partners on insurance, banking, and more.
⭐ Read our 50+ free guides to living, working, and moving to Germany.
⭐ Ask questions about living and working in Germany, and join our chat. 💬
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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.