In the aerospace industry, skilled workers earn particularly well.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin Jobs in technical production planning and control, in aerospace technology and in special areas of the insurance and financial services industry offer young professionals the best possible income. On average, they earn more than EUR 4,000 gross per month here. This also applies to jobs in chemical and pharmaceutical technology and in fire protection, as an analysis by the Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) shows.
The researchers Helen Hickmann and Ruth Maria Schüler have compiled a ranking of the 20 most lucrative professions for skilled workers under 30 years of age. In all of them, the median earnings are more than 3500 euros. The median divides the group of employees examined in the middle, that is, half earn more, the other half less. If one considers all employees under 30 years of age who are subject to social security contributions, the value according to data from the Federal Employment Agency (BA) is just under 2900 euros.
“In the minds of many people it is still anchored that an academic profession is associated with more prestige and higher merit,” says study author Hickmann. But if you do vocational training and then maybe join a master craftsman or technician, you have just as good chances.
Young professionals in the aerospace industry earn almost 4200 euros
In technical production planning and control, the average gross monthly wage for young skilled workers is 4307 euros, in aerospace technology it is 4194 euros. Those who specialize in the insurance and financial services sector come to 4141 euros.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
The top group with the highest earning potential are followed by professions in medical technology, in energy and power plant technology, in mining and opencast mining, in metallurgical engineering and mechanical engineering, if skilled workers have a specialization. It is noticeable that ten metal and electrical professions can be found among the 20 most lucrative jobs.
Young skilled workers earn an average of between 3500 and 3600 euros as technical service staff in maintenance and repair, as paint laboratory assistants, in social administration and insurance, in automation technology or in mechanical engineering without specialization. Bank clerks, employees in electrical engineering, paper production or metal forming and insurance salespeople receive between 3600 and 3650 euros per month.
Popular job, but not particularly well paid.
(Photo: imago images / STAR-MEDIA)
In their study, the IW researchers also show that the earning potential is not only great in professions where there is a shortage of skilled workers. The job surplus rate in fire protection, electrical engineering or automation technology was over 60 percent last year – despite Corona – which means a lack of staff. The quota indicates the proportion of vacancies for which there are no suitably qualified unemployed.
On the other hand, there are no staff shortages, for example in energy and power plant technology, metallurgy or bank clerks. The scientists attribute the fact that many skilled workers earn good wages even without staff shortages because “institutional mechanisms often help determine wages”. In other words, in the most lucrative skilled occupations, pay is often based on collective agreements negotiated by employers and trade unions.
For many young people, earning potential is not the main criterion when choosing a career
Hickmann and Schüler also show, however, that earning potential is apparently not the main criterion for many young people when choosing a career. To do this, they looked at the ten apprenticeships in which the proportion of unsupported applicants was the highest among all registered applicants for an apprenticeship position, which means that there are more interested parties than apprenticeships.
In eight of the ten professions, the mean gross monthly earnings are less than 2500 euros and thus also below the median salary for employees under 30 as a whole. Animal keepers come to an average of almost 2100 euros, for photographers it is a good 2000 euros, and the highly sought-after apprenticeship as film and video editor is just under 2500 euros.
Many apprenticeships are not even known to young people, so they don’t even know what income and career opportunities they have there, says Hickmann. This is where the vocational orientation in schools has to start: “And when I do all-round career advice, I also introduce high school graduates to apprenticeships.”
More: Hardly any applicants and still high pay – that’s 25 jobs with little competition