Jobs without German

Salary negotiation in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

What to say when a German, Austrian or Swiss employer asks your salary expectations. Which number, how to find it, and when to give it.

If the salary will not move, the last part is what else is on the table.

This is general information, not financial or legal advice. It explains conventions and a few rules; what you ask for is your decision.

The number is gross, and it is annual

In Germany, pay is talked about gross per year — brutto im Jahr — before tax and social insurance.[1] Adverts, offers and the question "what are your salary expectations?" all mean that figure, not what reaches your bank account. If you think in net monthly pay, convert before the conversation: the salaries and pay guide explains everything that comes off between the two.

Austria is different in one way that changes the number. Pay there is usually quoted as fourteen monthly payments, not twelve[2] — the Austria guide explains why. Divide an Austrian annual figure by fourteen, not twelve, before comparing it with a monthly one.

Find the range before anyone asks

The Federal Employment Agency's advice is to research the going rate and to give a range rather than a single figure, for example "45,000 to 50,000 euros".[1] Places to look that it names:[1]

  • the Entgeltatlas, the Agency's own free tool, which shows median gross monthly pay of full-time employees by occupation and can be narrowed by region, age group and industry;[3]
  • salary studies published by professional associations;
  • salary comparison websites, and people in the same field.

Two cautions about any of these. A median is the middle of a range, not what a particular job pays.[3] And the Entgeltatlas shows monthly figures while offers are annual — multiply before you compare.[3]

When to say it

The Agency's line is to talk about salary once it is clear you fit the job professionally.[1] In practice that often means the question comes to you, either in an application form ("Gehaltsvorstellung") or in an interview. The interviews guide lists it among the questions asked most often.

When it does come, the Agency suggests a sentence built on your research, not on your needs — something like "Based on my research, the usual salary for this position is around …, and I think that is realistic."[1] Rent, moving costs and what you earned at home are not arguments an employer weighs; your experience and what the role asks of you are.[1]

If the salary does not move

Money is not the only thing that can be negotiated. The Agency names several alternatives:[1]

  • a salary review after probation, agreed now and written down;
  • training and development paid for by the employer;
  • working from home;
  • extra days of holiday above the legal minimum — the job contract guide has the minimum;
  • a travel or transport allowance.

Whatever is agreed, ask for it in the contract or in writing. A promise made in a friendly interview is hard to prove a year later.

Rules that help you

Austria: the minimum must be in the advert

Austrian job adverts must state the minimum pay under the applicable collective agreement — as an amount, with a time unit such as per month — and must say so if the employer is willing to pay more.[4] So on an Austrian advert you already know the floor. It is a starting point, not the offer: "Bereitschaft zur Überzahlung" means there is room above it.

Germany: a right to information inside larger employers

Once you work at a German employer with more than 200 employees, the Pay Transparency Act (Entgelttransparenzgesetz) lets you ask how pay is set and what comparable colleagues earn on average.[5] It does not help before you are hired.

The EU pay transparency directive — not yet German law

An EU directive of 2023 says applicants have the right to be told the starting pay or its range for a job, and that an employer shall not ask about your pay history in current or previous jobs.[6] Member states had to write it into their own law by 7 June 2026.[5] Germany had not finished doing so when we last checked, so in Germany these are not yet rights you can rely on against an employer.[5]

We will update this section when the German law passes.

What we cannot do

We cannot tell you what a particular job pays. Our listings have no salary field; we show a short excerpt of each advert and link out to the employer's own, where any pay the employer publishes will be. This page is general information, not advice about your offer.

Where to check

Checked on 28 September 2026 against the sources below. The pay transparency section will change when Germany passes its law.

Sources

  1. Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit): Gehaltsverhandlungen beim Berufseinstieg — salary talked about gross per year; research through the Entgeltatlas, professional associations' salary studies and comparison sites; give a range such as 45,000 to 50,000 euros; raise pay once professional fit is clear; argue from qualifications, not personal needs; alternatives include a review after probation, training, remote work, extra holiday and a transport allowance (German). Checked 28 Sep 2026. ↑↑↑↑↑↑↑

  2. Federal Ministry of Social Affairs: Mindestlohn in Österreich — no statutory minimum wage, over 800 collective agreements, about 95% coverage, mostly at least €1,700 gross 14 times a year; page dated 12 August 2025 (German). Checked 23 Sep 2026. ↑

  3. Federal Employment Agency: Help with the Entgeltatlas — median gross monthly pay of full-time employees by occupation, filterable by region, gender, age group and industry (German). Checked 23 Sep 2026. ↑↑↑

  4. Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO): Angaben zu Mindestentgelt im Stelleninserat — under the Equal Treatment Act, adverts must state the collective-agreement minimum pay as an amount with a time unit, and must mention a willingness to pay more where there is one (German). Checked 28 Sep 2026. ↑

  5. Haufe (legal publisher): Entgelttransparenz — employees at employers with more than 200 staff can ask about pay criteria and the average pay of comparable colleagues; the EU directive's transposition deadline was 7 June 2026, and no German draft law had been published at the time of writing, July 2026 (German). Secondary source. Checked 28 Sep 2026. ↑↑↑

  6. EUR-Lex: Directive (EU) 2023/970 on pay transparency, Article 5 — applicants have the right to information about the initial pay or its range; "An employer shall not ask applicants about their pay history" (English). Checked 28 Sep 2026. ↑

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