ReleaseWire Connect

Hiring in Germany's technology industry continues to thrive, with a rise of 1.8% recorded in March of this year. IT hiring has shown strong progress, as many more organisations seek to get support for the accelerated IT transformations that have been undertaken in many different industries since the start of the pandemic. When it comes to IT jobs there are five roles, in particular, that are especially in demand right now. Software and web developers, for example, take up the largest share of IT recruitment activity, followed by database and network administrators and architects. Miscellaneous computer occupations accounted for just over 8% of overall IT recruitment activity in March and computer and information analysts almost 6%. What's clear from these figures is the German technology recruitment activity remains strong - and is likely to continue to do so. This is being bolstered by a number of top companies that continue to hire, including Deutsche Telekom, SAP and Celonis.

Stuttgart is going to be the new home of a technology and software development centre where Torc Robotics is currently developing Level 4 self-driving vehicle software for heavy-duty vehicles. Torc Robotics is a subsidiary of Daimler Truck and aims to be the first organisation able to launch a scalable and profitable self-driving product. Torc has access to a wealth of trucking technical and product expertise and it's this that will provide the foundation on which the new software development and engineering centre will build when it comes to creating the new product. Stuttgart is already renowned as an area of automotive expertise and there is a growing autonomous vehicle market here. Torc Robotics' investment in the new facility will help to increase the prominence of the area in this market, as well as creating a wealth of new development engineering jobs and opportunities.

Recovery is starting to evolve for major organisations across Europe, moving from survival mode into a thriving state. The latest enterprise to make this shift is the TUI Group, which is looking to recruit 1,500 new staff across Europe this year. The company has invested heavily in digitisation of its operations in recent years and this is going to be the focus of many of the new roles, which fall in areas such as technology and e-commerce. TUI said that it expects bookings to return to normal in the summer of 2022 and the recruitment drive is part of the business' plan to ensure that it can optimise on this. Some of the roles that TUI is particularly looking to fill include data engineer, software engineer and technical analysts. Flexible and hybrid working have now become commonplace, not just at TUI but on a global level, and this means that the opportunities are open to a much broader market than was previously possible.

Intel has been pretty clear about its intentions to expand on its chip research and manufacturing capabilities in Europe - and now the company has put a figure on it. EUR33 billion is the total that Intel plans to invest right now but this could easily increase to EUR80 billion, according to sources. The growth plan is getting underway with EUR17 billion that the business is investing in two chip fab factories in Magdeburg, Germany that are going to be focused on advanced chip making. Construction on the factories is due to begin in 2023 as long as the European Commission gives its approval. The move is going to create around 7,000 construction jobs in Germany, as well as 3,000 permanent, high-tech jobs at Intel itself. The sites in Germany are just a part of the expansion that Intel has planned - it is also looking at a new back-end manufacturing facility in Italy and intends to double its investment in manufacturing space in Ireland.

Software development services is a fast-growing market in Europe. There are many different reasons for this, including the current shortage of software developers, which is driving a trend towards outsourcing. More than half of European companies have said they have struggled to recruit in this field and the European Commission predicted a shortage of IT professionals of around 500,000. In addition to this skills shortage, the potential of the European market is being defined by the extensive need for digital transformation that is happening all across the continent. In-house software development simply isn't something that most businesses can budget for, even though many need to have access to it. As a result, the demand for outsourced software engineering development continues to grow. The potential that this market has can be seen in the spending predictions being made by organisations in Europe. For example, 38% plan to outsource at a higher rate over the next two years than they have done in the past.

Germany continues to be a hot location for technology companies, attracting many of those that are looking to invest in expansion within the Eurozone. One of the latest to do so is the software development company Oves Enterprises, which has now opened an office in Munich. The Romanian firm is also aiming to open another office in Berlin in the near future, according to the Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, AHK Romania. Oves Enterprises has said of its expansion moves that they are intended to facilitate collaboration between the business and small to medium sized enterprises that don't have access to sufficient personnel. Oves is also targeting customers that don't currently have the leverage to contract with large companies in the German market. Oves Enterprises was founded in 2015 and has expanded significantly since then - the office in Munich, and the planned location in Berlin could be just the start of the company's story in Germany.

There's been plenty of talk about the expansion underway at Intel, as the chip maker looks to regain its previous prominence in the market. Now, it has been revealed that Magdeburg is going to be the location of the company's new chip factory. The East German city is the capital of Saxony-Anhalt state and the Eulenberg Industrial area in the east of the city will be the ideal location for the new centre of manufacturing for Intel. The multi-billion Euro factory is likely to be one of two that Intel is going to establish in Europe, as its plans for expansion continue to gain ground. This could provide a significant boost to the local economy, especially when it comes to the roles available with Intel. The question now is whether the city of Magdeburg will see a boom in technology recruitment as a result of the new factory being constructed here.

In the three months to October 2021, Europe was the fastest growing region for machine learning recruitment. This is just one of the areas in which this part of the world is currently experiencing a significant spike in technology recruitment. The figures for 2021 show that Germany is one of the key locations in Europe for machine learning roles in particular - 2.5% of all the machine learning job ads for Europe for the period ending in October last year were related to roles in Germany, up from 1.5% the year before.

Areas where there are skills shortages are often where you'll find the most significant spikes in pay and benefits as businesses will go to extra lengths to find the right people. According to new analysis, for software development engineers, 2022 could be a great year to seek out a new role for this exact reason. Skills shortages in sectors such as technology continue to bite for businesses all over the world, meaning that those with in-demand experience can command much higher financial rewards.

As autonomous vehicles begin to gain ground, the demand for robot cars increases. In China, the world's first Robo Taxi production line has been built and European tech is at the heart of the process. The production facility is owned by AutoX and is able to produce Level 4 fully driverless Robo Taxis, which will be on the roads within a matter of months. The dedicated production facility is a world first and is using ABB robots and transmission systems that have been created by big names in European technology, including Siemens and Schneider Electric. Every car goes through a rigorous testing process after production and is ready for autonomous driving as soon as it leaves the company's premises.