Stuttgart

As one of southern Germany’s major cities and a significant manufacturing hub, Stuttgart attracts professionals from across the country and the world. The university city of Tübingen, just 44 km away, forms part of Stuttgart’s talent ecosystem. The economy of metropolitan Stuttgart is varied, with an emphasis on science, research, financial services, high technology, information and communication. The tech talent in Stuttgart is slightly younger than the European average, with 18% holding less than five years of experience, above the European average of 15%.

The Stuttgart-Tübingen ecosystem—along with Munich—has a larger share of its technical talent in robotics, drones and autonomous vehicles than anywhere in Europe, with 8% of the total talent pool skilled in this area, double the average European density. Metropolitan Stuttgart also has a top density of systems engineers, with over a quarter of local tech talent having systems experience, as well as a notable density of hardware engineers.

Stuttgart’s technology ecosystem is worth €10.8 billion and has attracted €2.5 billion in venture capital funding since 2015. Although the city is home to over 800 startups, they make up a smaller proportion of the ecosystem than many other European tech hubs.

In Stuttgart, established companies predominate. The largest employers of technology talent in the city and its surrounds include engineering and technology behemoth Bosch, which was founded here in 1886, Mercedes-Benz, and SAP. Unsurprisingly, Bosch’s mobility and industrial pipelines thrive in Stuttgart, as they tap into the amassed expertise in robotics, drones & autonomous vehicles, hardware and systems.

Stuttgart is home to two leading tech universities. The University of Stuttgart is ranked in the top 125 universities in the world for engineering and technology. The next biggest contributor to Stuttgart’s pool of engineers is Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, which has ranked in the top 100 technology and engineering universities globally every year over the past decade. The University of Tübingen also produces technology talent skilled in app development, systems, and data science.

• Stuttgart’s technology workers are relatively open to new roles, at 11%, very close to the European average of 12%.
• The notice period for an employer to give an employee depends on the duration of employment, with a minimum of four weeks for those employed less than nine months and up to seven months for those employed for more than 20 years.
• Employees are required to give four weeks’ notice to employers should they wish to terminate their contract, regardless of how long they have been at the company.
• Equity is usually structured at a standard 48 months with a 12-month cliff. The vesting interval averages once every 1.9 months.
• The cost of living in Stuttgart is six percentage points above the European average.

• Employers pay around 24% in employment taxes, which is 2 percentage points above the European average.
• Germany’s corporate tax rate is 29.9%—the second highest in Europe and almost 8 percentage points above the European average.
• Virtual stock option plans are preferred over real options in Germany due to the lack of a tax-advantage scheme and the high administrative burden associated with real options. At the point at which the employee receives the cash benefit, virtual stock options are taxed heavily—stocks are taxed as income, at 14-45%. Social security contributions are also applied, at 20%, along with a solidarity surcharge of 5.5% of the income tax, and church tax, which is 8-9% of income tax.
• The average monthly rental for office space is €33 per square meter, below the European average of €38.

Do you work in Stuttgart and have insight about what makes this a dynamic hub for tech talent?