Do companies under collective agreement (IG BCE) pay better?

Yes, chemical companies bound by the IG BCE agreement generally offer higher pay and benefits.

Is the sector hiring despite the slowdown?

Underlying demand remains, but the cycle is low: we present the situation to you honestly.

Process and chemical engineer

Your command of industrial processes finds in Germany a field of application worthy of your skills.

The profession

The process engineer designs and optimises industrial transformation processes in chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food. They ensure efficient, safe and compliant production lines.

Salary

Entry salary is about 4,000 €/month (IG BCE chemical pay scale, about 48,000 €/year), and the median salary across all experience levels reaches about 6,087 €/month according to the portals (about 75,483 €/year) and about 6,846 €/month according to the Entgeltatlas, a median calculated across all experience levels (source: gehalt.de, Entgeltatlas, GDCh, 2025).

Employers hiring

Employers include BASF, Bayer, Evonik, Covestro, Wacker Chemie, Henkel, Lanxess, Boehringer Ingelheim, Linde, ThyssenKrupp Uhde, Bilfinger, as well as the food, pharmaceutical and water-treatment sectors.

Prospects

Structural demand is real, but this is the field most exposed to the current slowdown in chemicals: positions in chemical and plastics engineering fell by about 25 percent year on year in the third quarter of 2025, a point we present honestly (source: VDI, IW Ingenieurmonitor, 2025). The engineer shortage (Ingenieurmangel) nonetheless remains acute across all fields, with about 333 open positions per 100 unemployed engineers (source: VDI, IW Ingenieurmonitor, 2024).

Career progression

You can progress to project manager, operations engineer, process expert, and then into plant management.

Language level

B2 is the level employers expect and it opens the engineering market; English is enough in some research and development teams and large international groups. B2 is what we aim for with you.

Diploma recognition

Engineering is not a regulated profession in order to work: your degree is assessed via the anabin database and, if needed, a statement of comparability from the ZAB. The title of Ingenieur is protected by the laws of the Länder and using it may require authorisation, but this is not required to be employed. We have your degree assessed and guide you through it.

Visa

As a university graduate, you have access to the EU Blue Card: the 2025 salary threshold is about 48,300 € gross per year, lowered to about 43,760 € for shortage occupations such as engineering (source: immigration legal frameworks, 2025). The skilled worker visa for an academic degree and the Chancenkarte (opportunity card) are other routes. We check your eligibility and prepare the file with you.

Your Karriere Fähre support

We train you in German up to the useful level, have your degree assessed, present your profile favourably to German employers, prepare the Blue Card or visa file and support you all the way to your arrival.

Apply

Frequently asked questions

Do companies under collective agreement (IG BCE) pay better?: Yes, chemical companies bound by the IG BCE agreement generally offer higher pay and benefits.
Is the sector hiring despite the slowdown?: Underlying demand remains, but the cycle is low: we present the situation to you honestly.

Indicative gross ranges from public German sources (Federal Employment Agency, Entgeltatlas, Gehalt.de, StepStone, VDI). Engineering pay depends on sector, region, company size and experience. Degree-recognition and visa rules change: always check your case with the competent German authorities.