Focus on Career Entrants: Companies Looking for Soft Skills and AI (4th Quarter 2025)

Number of Jobs for Career Entrants Mostly Stable

Almost two thirds of companies (65%) saw no change in the number of jobs for career entrants in the past three years. The number fell at almost one in five companies (19%). At the same time, however, 16% also stated that it had risen. In manufacturing and trade, the number of jobs for career entrants decreased slightly more frequently (23% and 22%). By contrast, it decreased noticeably less frequently in the service sector, with fewer companies (14%) expecting a reduction in the number of jobs for career entrants than an increase (17%). The vast majority of service companies (69%) did not make any changes. 

The Majority of Companies Expect the Number of Jobs for Career Entrants to Remain the Same  

Companies expect the trend in the number of jobs for career entrants to continue over the next three years. As in the past three years, 65% of companies expect the number of jobs to remain the same, 16% expect it to rise, and 19% to fall. In manufacturing and trade, more companies (23% and 20%) also expect it to fall rather than to rise (13% and 18%). In the service sector, on the other hand, more companies are planning a rise in the number of jobs for career entrants (18%) than a fall (15%). 

More Than a Third See Automation as the Reason for a Lower Number of Jobs for Career Entrants  

Those companies that expect the number of jobs to fall were asked about the reasons for that. Around half of these companies (51%) cite generally lower staffing requirements as the reason. Automation and digitalization were also mentioned frequently (38%), for example, through AI. A third of the companies cite the fact that the job profiles increasingly exceed the entry level as the reason for the declining number of jobs. A quarter of companies (25%) want to focus on experienced professionals. In addition, 24% of companies note that the number of applications from career entrants has fallen. 15% of companies also stated that there was a lack of resources for onboarding. 
 

Communication and Teamwork Are the Most Important Skills for Career Entrants

Companies cited communication and teamwork as the most important skills for career entrants (66%). Self-organization and a sense of responsibility are also important to companies (61%), followed by the ability to learn and adapt (58%). These soft skills therefore outweigh hard skills, which comprise basic subject-specific knowledge (47%). Digital skills (27%) play a subordinate role, as do creativity and innovation skills (10%). Willingness to work and reliability were also mentioned several times. 

AI Is Already Taking Over Some of the Tasks of Career Entrants

At 14% of the companies surveyed, AI is already taking over tasks from career entrants. The remaining 86% say it is not. While this is only the case for 10% of companies in trade, the figure is 14% in manufacturing and 16% in the service sector. The comparison of size categories also shows that AI is already being used more frequently for career entrant tasks in large companies than in small companies.

Use of AI to Be Expanded for Career Entrant Tasks

The spread of AI in the corporate context is expected to have an even greater impact on the tasks of career entrants over the next three years. 40% of companies state that these tasks will be carried out by an AI in the coming years. The other 60% say it will not. A higher rate of automation for career entrant tasks is planned for large companies (63%), while the rate is lower for small companies (30%). In addition, the share of companies that expect AI to take over is higher in manufacturing, at 45%, than in the other sectors. The figure is 39% in trade and 37% among service providers. 
 

Current Economic Situation Has No Influence for the Most Part on Hiring Decisions

For a clear majority of companies, the current economic situation has no influence on the decision as to whether they prefer to hire career entrants or experienced professionals. That was the case for 81% of the companies. The remaining companies are responding to the current difficult economic situation, with 15% of companies deciding to hire experienced professionals, while only 4% feel compelled to integrate career entrants into their company. This low demand for career entrants is similar in the different economic sectors: 5% of companies in the service sector and trade, and 2% in manufacturing. In trade, with a share of 18%, the majority of companies say that they tend to rely more on experienced professionals due to the current situation. In manufacturing (16%) and the service sector (13%), however, only slightly fewer do so.
 

Professional Experience Is Becoming More Important for a Third of Companies

In the last three years, professional experience has increasingly become a hiring criterion. Just under a third of companies (32%) stated that they are now paying more attention to that when looking for new employees. However, at 68%, professional experience does not currently play a greater role for the majority of companies than it used to. In manufacturing, professional experience has become more important over the past three years compared to trade and service providers. Here, 38% of companies stated that they had recently focused on this applicant group (trade 34%, service sector 27%). Companies in the service sector therefore stated most frequently that professional experience does not currently play a greater role for them than in the past (73%). 

One Fifth of Companies Are Not Hiring University and Training Dropouts 

When asked whether they would generally hire university and training dropouts, 23% of companies answered no. Accordingly, a clear majority of 77% were in favor of general hiring. Large companies are more willing to do that (82%) than small companies (72%). In addition, at 81%, the willingness in trade was above average, while in manufacturing it was slightly below average at 76%.

For every second company, the lack of professional qualifications is an argument for not hiring. 44% associate dropping out of training or university with being less reliable, and 42% with a lack of motivation on the part of applicants, and therefore oppose hiring them. A further 33% see the additional effort involved in onboarding or further training as a hindrance, while 26% are bothered by a possible missing sense of responsibility. One in five companies state that they have to reject applications from people who have dropped out of training or university due to internal requirements for specific qualifications.