German IT job market contracts sharply as demand for specialists falls

The Hays IT Fachkräfte‑Index for Q2 2026 shows a steep decline in demand for IT professionals in Germany. Overall demand fell 26 percentage points to 36 % of the Q1 2015 reference level, while the IT sector index dropped 37 points to 59 %. The steepest fall was among IT‑Security specialists, whose index slipped by 136 points despite still being the most in‑demand role at 373 %. Other positions such as SAP developers, IT consultants, administrators, architects and developers also saw double‑digit declines. The only role with a positive swing was database developers, whose demand rose 9 points to 322 % amid the ongoing AI boom, according to Hays senior manager Andreas Sauer.

Computacenter Germany reported a 6.2 % revenue increase for 2025, driven by strong public‑sector contracts and a record‑breaking December. However, the company warned of a “storage crisis” affecting customers and noted a slowdown in 2026, with modest growth expected in the first half of the year. Bernd Charpentier, spokesperson for Computacenter Germany, highlighted continued hardware sales growth and positive impulses from the industrial sector, while also pointing to consolidation among municipal IT service providers and crediting Digital Minister Carsten Wildberger for coordinated digitalisation efforts.