Since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in early 2022, the defense industry has been growing faster than any other high-tech sector. German companies specializing in defense and security are reporting record orders and massive hiring drives. Specialists in electronics, sensor technology, embedded systems, power electronics, and secure communications are in particularly high demand. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups are also expanding rapidly.
Skilled labor shortage
However, the drastically growing demand is met by a pool of young talent that has been steadily shrinking for years. In 2025, there were approximately 12,700 retirements compared to only 7,500 graduates in electrical and information technology, with a dramatic downward trend. Another critical issue: 83 percent of master’s graduates in electrical and information technology at R&D-focused universities do not hold German passports. Half of these come from countries such as China and India, which are not permitted to participatein national and alliance defense projects for security reasons.
Another reason: misguided higher education policy. With drastic consequences, as the example of Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (UAS) shows: within five years, 40 percent of electrical engineering professorships there will fall victim to budget cuts. Entire degree programs will no longer be offered to first-year students in the future. Further drastic cuts loom at the end of 2026 in North Rhine-Westphalia when the
higher education agreement expires. When it comes to defense issues, targeted funding programs are lacking. And the traditional separation between civilian and military research at German universities further hinders greater innovation. At least Bavaria, following the U.S. model, was the first federal state to abolish the separation between civilian and military research – with a focus on practical and industrial applications.
Urgently needed skilled workers can only be attracted if education, security, and research policies are considered together:
- Strategically anchor the securing of skilled workers: Defense and security technology must be permanently incorporated into university and research planning as fields of the future.
- Support domestic talent: Schools and universities must attract more young people to electrical and information technology and prepare them for security-related roles.
- Standardize security clearances: Procedures for research institutions and companies must be streamlined and harmonized.
- Stabilize university funding: Chairs and degree programs in electrical and information technology must be maintained even during periods of temporary underutilization.
