Skilled Workforce

Skilled Workforce

Specialists and skilled workers from all over the world are drawn to Leipzig by its growing job market, vibrant atmosphere, and young population. Consequently, there’s a broad pool of well-qualified candidates in all sorts of areas. What’s more, there are plenty of opportunities for residents to retrain and jump-start a new career in the life sciences.

Specialists and skilled workers from all over the world are drawn to Leipzig by its growing job market, vibrant atmosphere, and young population. Consequently, there’s a broad pool of well-qualified candidates in all sorts of areas. What’s more, there are plenty of opportunities for residents to retrain and jump-start a new career in the life sciences.

A young, expanding city

View on the Panorama Tower out of the Lene-Voigt-Park

Young City

© Tom Schulze

Leipzig is one of the very few cities in Germany where the population is on the rise. This is mainly due to the influx of skilled workers and young families attracted by affordable living costs, a great higher education sector, and plentiful employment opportunities – not to mention the busy arts scene, the surrounding countryside, Leipzig’s vibrant atmosphere, and its wide range of indoor and outdoor leisure activities. As a result, the population has grown to well over 600,000 and is set to reach 700,000 by 2040. What’s more, the average age is 42.4 years. This young demographic is a contributing factor to the city’s dynamic economy. For example, the number of companies competing for each graduate is just 1.6, making it far easier for employers to find ideal candidates than in, say, Munich, where 14 companies chase each graduate.

Welcoming the world

International students talking to each other

Diversity

© HHL +Review

Leipzig has been welcoming visitors from around the world for centuries. This is partly due to its proud history of commerce, now buoyed by its position at the heart of Europe and just a short train ride away from Berlin. It was the presence of the Leipzig Fair that gave the city its welcoming, cosmopolitan outlook in centuries past and even in the communist era – which partly explains why the Peaceful Revolution that toppled the Berlin Wall kicked off in Leipzig. These days, the city also welcomes incoming employers. The extensive assistance they receive includes support for business relocations and expansions, such as subsidies and regular recruitment fairs to help them find new local staff. Meanwhile, foreign workers with families often choose to send their children to Leipzig International School, where the language of instruction is English. Other visitors given a warm welcome include the scientists and scholars attending one of the many annual summer schools in Leipzig.

The Leipzig region

The university of Leipzig photogrphed from the patio in the direction of the old church

Universität

© Tom Schulze

Leipzig has two universities and seven other institutions of higher education where in total more than 40,000 students are enrolled, giving the city an outstanding talent pool and creating a stable pipeline to the skilled workforce of tomorrow. In fact, 28% of those in work in Leipzig have a college degree. This makes Leipzig the beating heart of central Germany – an innovative area with a total population exceeding 2.25 million. The European Metropolitan Region of Central Germany brings together around 85 key corporations, local authorities, business chambers, and professional associations from the federal states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia with the shared aim of promoting the successful development and marketing of central Germany as a region with a strong economic, scientific and cultural heritage.

QualiBioPharma

A laboratory worker fills a red liquid into small cups

QUALIBIOPHARMA

© Fraunhofer IZI

… is a retraining program coordinated by biosaxony, the region’s main life science association. The objective of this pilot scheme is to equip people from other sectors with the laboratory skills they need to work in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and biotechnology. After all, the region needs trained specialists to accelerate growth in the life science sector, be it for startups, existing companies, or relocations. The program will be officially launched in 2023 with the involvement of players in the biotech cluster in Halle (Saale) and Leipzig. Participants from both academic and non-academic backgrounds will attend a three-month course. Biosaxony’s main partner in QualiBioPharma is the IZI Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology.

More

Place to be

Augustusplatz in Leizig with the Panaorame Tower and the Gewandhaus in the back

Cultural city

© Philipp Kirschner

You might be surprised to learn what a great city Leipzig is to live in! Affordable rents, plenty of parks and other green spaces, a fascinating arts scene, and no shortage of charming places for a drink and a meal when the day’s work is done – no wonder it’s especially attractive to young people!

Infrastructure

Man test AR headset while another man checks the happenings on a notebook

Next3D

© Phillip Kirschner

Leipzig has an outstanding infrastructure in the areas essential to life science projects such as networking, research incubators, and funding for startups. What’s more, most of its research institutes are within walking distance of each other. But should you need to travel further afield, it also has a superb transport infrastructure.

Leipzig: The Meeting place

Above the roofes of Leipzig. In the front the university library and the federal administrative court. In the back the Panaroma Tower and the new town hall

Panorama

Quelle: Bertram Kober/punctum

The City always offers visitors a warm welcome and has a wide variety of options for hosting conventions and other events. Find out more about the venues available.

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