Job-analytics firm Expado reported on 20 October 2026 that Berlin employers currently list 195 vacancies explicitly offering visa sponsorship or relocation support – the highest since the company began tracking in 2022. Tech scale-ups such as HelloFresh, N26 and JetBrains account for much of the demand, but there is also a surge in sales and legal positions that traditionally required fluent German. Notably, 61 of the roles are fully remote and 87 hybrid, signalling that companies are widening their talent net beyond the capital’s rental crunch. Expado’s scrape shows that 86 percent of the ads accept applicants without German language skills, reflecting mounting competition for specialised skills in AI engineering and data governance. The figures align with forecasts from the German Economic Institute that the country will face a shortfall of 148,000 infrastructure-related specialists this year. For global-mobility practitioners the data translates into continued pressure to craft attractive relocation packages: average housing allowances for Berlin have risen 12 percent year-on-year according to Mercer, and family support (school search, partner career coaching) is fast becoming a differentiator. Companies should also review their immigration timelines. Despite recent digitalisation efforts, appointment lead times at the Berlin Landesamt für Einwanderung still average eight weeks for initial work-visa filings, climbing to 12 in peak months. Early document preparation and use of the federal visa-fast-track (§81a AufenthG) can mitigate delays. Expado’s dashboard will update again on 3 November; observers expect the count to breach 200 as U.S. tech firms continue to open EU hub roles to hedge against regulatory uncertainty in London and Dublin.
Source: Expado
