Number of unemployed academics at record high

Economic situation and AI Number of unemployed academics at record level As of: November 11, 2026 • 11:07 a.m

A degree still provides good protection against unemployment - but the economic situation and the use of artificial intelligence are changing that. Younger graduates in particular are affected by unemployment.

Unemployment among academics in Germany reached a peak in August. The number has climbed to 372,000, said the Federal Employment Agency in Nuremberg.

The number has risen continuously over the past five years. Younger graduates under the age of 30 are particularly affected.

Number of academics without a job reaches peak tagesschau24, November 11th, 2026 • 10:00 a.m. Nevertheless, education remains largely a safeguard against unemployment. At 3.3 percent in 2025, the unemployment rate among academics was only around half as high as in the general population.

For people with a completed vocational qualification it was slightly higher at 3.6 percent, but for people without a vocational qualification it was over 21 percent, according to the Federal Agency.

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Statistics show clear differences in the disciplines affected by unemployment. While teaching graduates were hardly ever unemployed in 2025 (less than two percent), graduates of humanities courses were unemployed at an above-average rate of 4.6 percent. The rate for engineers was also above average at 3.8 percent.

According to the employment agency, the main reasons for rising unemployment are the tense economic situation and the increasing use of artificial intelligence. Young people in entry-level positions are particularly affected by this. In principle, however, it can be assumed that AI will not displace entire professions.

The head of the Federal Employment Agency, Andrea Nahles, told the Handelsblatt the day before that artificial intelligence was revolutionizing the labor market in Germany. "We predict that around 800,000 jobs in Germany will be lost due to AI in the next 15 years, but a similar number will also be created."

Some sectors will be hit harder by the cuts, such as service providers for companies, analytical jobs at insurance companies and banks. Nahles went on to say that the job cuts do not particularly affect highly qualified people across the board.

"There was a shock study in the US about young academics," she said. "Here, too, academics take longer to start their careers and may not get their dream job - but they still have far better chances than everyone else."

This topic in the program: tagesschau24 | News | 11/11/2026 | 10:00 a.m