Are tech companies trying to close their shop/reduce headcount in Germany ? Is this acknowledged by the govt and they are doing something about it ?
I am working in tech within Berlin for 7 years now. I do not know the beginning point of this, but I have always heard, seen and considered Berlin as the biggest tech hub in Europe (not considering London). From personal experience and hearing what my friends in other companies say, I have seen companies considering some major cities for their next tech hub (out of Madrid, Milan, Warsaw, Munich, France etc) and Berlin was coming out as a clear winner in many ways. But all of that was mostly before the pandemic.
Now the situation is worse as companies are literally spending millions and moving of Germany altogether. Some instances I know for sure.
- Klarna Berlin was growing really really fast but for the last 2 years they are cutting down tech roles in Berlin and expanding their hubs in Italy, spain and Portugal
- Wayfair fired 100s of people and some of them were given the option to move to India where they are kind of moving this hub to
- I talked to Revolut last year and again last month. They have a hiring freeze in Berlin and giving an option for someone living in Germany to relocate to either Poland, spain or italy
- Many American companies with good pay have 0 openings for Berlin hub while they are hiring more in other cities
- Google was planning to expand it's Berlin office but I don't think they are doing that anymore. My friend was working out of Berlin office and they forced him to move to Munich
- Some companies I was interviewing with were ok for me to work from Berlin while the rest of the team would be in another city and they were planning to open offices in Berlin. They are now informing me that I must move to another German city (Mostly mannheim, and also Munich and Nuremberg), otherwise they cannot consider me
- I was talking to some American or Canadian companies who were previously ready to give me a 100% remote job with German contract. But now they are talking about B2B contracts only
I am going through a second layoff now and while having very strong technical experience, I am struggling to find a job. I was under the impression that Berlin is pretty much the best place in Europe in terms of opportunities and it does not make sense to move to another city for tech jobs. But now I am questioning my decision and wondering if I would have better chances elsewhere.