Across Germany, there is currently a shortage of about 5,000 electrical and IT professionals per year to replace those retiring – and the trend is rising sharply. As a result, fewer and fewer people are studying electrical engineering at German universities: Over the past decade, the number has fallen by about a third. Students from all over the world are preventing this negative trend from becoming even more drastic. As a result, the proportion of international first-year students exceeded the 50 percent mark for the first time in 2025. However, internationalization poses other risks. This is particularly true for the defense sector – see VDE Policy Brief 1/2026.
Security risk from espionage
It is important that Germany is – and remains – an attractive destination for international students. Companies are desperately seeking young people with a passion for electrical engineering or information technology. This development presents enormous challenges. First, from a security policy perspective: in May 2026, the federal public prosecutor's office arrested suspected international spies who were allegedly tasked with spying on researchers at military-related academic departments. In addition, government scholarship recipients from certain countries are required to disclose information to their home countries and are subject to political pressure – for example, regarding technical knowledge of technology with military applications, such as electronics, sensor technology, and communications technology for drones or aerospace. Second, economic factors: many international graduates return to their home countries after completing their studies – for example, due to a lack of contacts with German companies or general difficulties with the German language. Key tasks from VDE's perspective:
- Harness domestic potential: universities and the federal states must continuously promote higher education and allocate significantly more resources to reaching out to young people in a way that appeals to them. Above all, it is essential to specifically attract young women to the fields of electrical engineering and information technology. Their share currently stands at only 13 percent – the lowest among all engineering disciplines.
- Retain international talent: universities should expand language support and provide structured career entry opportunities, particularly at small and medium-sized enterprises.
- Focus on strategic recruitment: young talent should be specifically recruited from friendly democracies, such as EU and Mercosur countries. This also reduces dependence on individual countries of origin.
- Prioritize security: a blanket restriction on the admission of government-sponsored students would be going too far. However, in security-relevant fields – and this applies to many areas of electrical and information technology – restrictions must be imposed on government-sponsored students from security-critical
