Leaving the car industry – and then? Why South Tyrol is more than a holiday destination for German engineers
Published on 5 October 2026 · 4 min read
The German car industry is cutting jobs while South Tyrol is looking for skilled workers. What Europe's salary map leaves out: housing, the job market and language.
The map that only tells half the truth
Germany 66,700 euros, Italy 36,594 euros: that is what the European map of average salaries currently circulating on LinkedIn shows (source according to the graphic: OECD, Taxing Wages 2026). Anyone who sees it thinks: working in Italy doesn't pay.
But the map shows national average gross wages. It says nothing about what life costs locally or whether the job will still exist in five years. These are exactly the two questions many people in the German car industry are asking right now.
The German car industry is shrinking – faster than any other sector
I worked at BMW for twelve years and know the industry from the inside. What is happening there is not a cyclical downturn but structural change:
– In mid-2026, 691,500 people still worked in the German car industry, 42,300 fewer than a year earlier ([Destatis figures via mobiFlip](https://www.mobiflip.de/?p=487906)).
– Among suppliers, the decline was 7.6 percent.
– The VDA expects a total of 225,000 lost jobs by 2035 ([Der Standard](https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000320516/deutsche-autoindustrie-rechnet-mit-gr246223erem-stellenabbau)).
Engineers, technicians or managers offered a severance package today usually look for work within a 50-kilometre radius. But that is where everyone else is looking too.
What South Tyrol has to offer
South Tyrol is looking for people, and urgently. Three points make the region interesting for skilled workers from Germany:
1. **The work is there.** The unemployment rate in 2025 was 1.8 percent, compared with 3.8 percent in Germany ([stol.it](https://www.stol.it/artikel/wirtschaft/arbeitsmarkt-vergleich-suedtirol-schneidet-gut-ab)). The Bolzano Chamber of Commerce speaks of a general labour shortage ([stol.it](https://www.stol.it/artikel/wirtschaft/handelskammer-bemuehungen-verstaerken-mitarbeiter-zu-binden)).
2. **Language is not a barrier.** Work, dealing with authorities, school: in South Tyrol all of this works in German. You pick up Italian along the way.
3. **Housing costs no more than in the car cities.** Asking rents in Bolzano are around 14.44 euros per square metre ([immobiliare.it](https://www.immobiliare.it/de/mercato-immobiliare/trentino-alto-adige/bolzano-provincia/)). Stuttgart is around 16.30 euros, Munich around 23.70 euros ([dpa via Volksstimme](https://www.volksstimme.de/deutschland-und-welt/wirtschaft/mietpreise-starkster-anstieg-in-koln-ruckgang-in-berlin-4289336)), Ingolstadt around 13.79 euros ([immoportal](https://www.immoportal.com/mietspiegel/ingolstadt)).
The honest calculation
South Tyrol is not cheap, and the gross salary will be lower than in Germany. South Tyrol's own business community describes its wages as below average compared with competitors ([Impulse 2026, stol.it](https://www.stol.it/artikel/wirtschaft/wo-suedtirol-sich-verbessern-muss-die-empfehlungen-der-wirtschaft)). Anyone who only looks at the gross figure stays at home.
The calculation works differently: less gross, but housing costs similar to Ingolstadt or Stuttgart, and a labour market that is hiring rather than cutting.
This suits above all engineers, technicians and managers who are willing to switch sectors. The automotive sector is shrinking in South Tyrol too ([stol.it](https://www.stol.it/artikel/wirtschaft/suedtirol-beschaeftigung-waechst-aber)). Demand is in food production, mechanical engineering, energy and construction. Anyone who has planned lines, assured quality or led teams can do the same there.
My conclusion
The salary map compares countries. But people choose regions, employers and a life. Anyone leaving the German car industry should include a look across the Brenner Pass in their calculation.
I support companies in South Tyrol in their search for specialists and managers and know both sides. If you would like to talk about this, write to me: [info@sandralochmann.com](mailto:info@sandralochmann.com).
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Sources
- 01Destatis-Zahlen via mobiFlipmobiflip.de
- 02Der Standardderstandard.at
- 03stol.it – Arbeitsmarkt-Vergleichstol.it
- 04stol.it – Handelskammerstol.it
- 05immobiliare.itimmobiliare.it
- 06dpa via Volksstimmevolksstimme.de
- 07immoportalimmoportal.com
- 08Impulse 2026, stol.itstol.it
- 09stol.it – Beschäftigungstol.it
All statements are backed by publicly available sources (see article date). Not legal or tax advice.
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