In the new job, career changers have good chances thanks to the flexible job market.
They benefit from the lack of skilled workers in many companies.
There has been a lot of movement on the job market since the corona pandemic.
Employees show a high willingness to change jobs and are also interested in entering other sectors.
Young employees in particular no longer want to limit themselves to just one area and are looking for new opportunities on the job market.
Changing careers as a career changer has developed into an attractive alternative.
There are many good reasons for this.
Figures for lateral entry – a trend?
A career changer is a person who enters an industry for which they have no technical or professional qualifications.
In most cases, career changers complete retraining, further training or a trainee program in order to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge for the new job.
The fact is: More and more employees are looking around for lateral entry opportunities.
In 2021, the terms career changer and career changer were searched for
on the
Stepstone job portal more than twice as often as in the previous year.
This trend continued in 2022.
In the first half of the year alone, as many search queries were recorded as in the whole of 2021. The term lateral entry can also be found in the “Top 5” of the most common search queries.
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There is a lot of movement on the job market.
© IMAGO/Lars Fröhlich
The reason for this is very simple: employees are more likely to look for a new job if they are not satisfied with their current one.
According to the job change compass that the Königsteiner Group publishes quarterly with
Stellenanzeige.de
, almost a third of all employees feel uncomfortable with their current employer.
Women are more dissatisfied than men.
The need to change jobs is particularly high among young people: 42 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds are looking for a new job.
Arguments for lateral entry
In contrast to the past, the German labor market is much more flexible today.
Where employees once spent the majority of their careers in a single company, they now have far more options open to them.
Career changers can become valuable workers because they usually think and act across departments.
Companies value career changers for enriching operations with new impulses.
In the meantime, a degree in a different subject is no longer seen as an exclusion criterion, but as an opportunity to bring innovation into the company.
Thanks to their exceptional educational and professional background, career changers can think outside the box and support companies with their know-how from other specialist areas.
Tobias Zimmermann, labor market expert and head of research at Stepstone, sees this as an enrichment for the German economy.
“Lateral entry is an absolute trend and topic of the future.
Due to the increasing unemployment and the enormous speed of the transformation of work and the labor market, it is precisely this flexibility that is the key to the future success of Germany as a business location and of local companies," says the expert.
Ten things that will immediately disqualify you in a job interview
Ten things that will immediately disqualify you in a job interview
With career changers against the shortage of skilled workers?
Even in 2023, Germany will have to contend with a major shortage of skilled workers.
Career changers could play a significant role in solving this problem.
Although they lack the right qualifications, they can score points with valuable knowledge from other sectors.
In today's working world, soft skills such as flexibility, learning skills and problem-solving skills are also playing an increasingly important role.
Career changers usually bring a particularly high level of motivation with them, as their great interest in the new profession has prompted them to change industries.
Against this background, technical skills for companies take a back seat.
According to the "StepStone Diversity Report 2021", heterogeneous and multidisciplinary teams promote the success and innovative ability of companies.
The unique perspectives of career changers can counteract operational blindness and help in opening up new markets.
This is why lateral entry is worthwhile for employees
For career changers themselves, there are many good reasons for a change.
In other industries, not only do better conditions and higher earnings beckon, they also get the opportunity to learn new skills and develop professionally on a completely new level.
Lateral entry can lead to greater job satisfaction because you are doing a job that better suits your interests and skills.
Many employees switch because they want a better work-life balance.
Overtime and being overwhelmed at work are one of the most common reasons workers look for a new job.
Lateral entry into other industries often offers more flexibility and home office opportunities, for example.
IT, Consulting and Co: Popular sectors for lateral entry
At first, many people don't seem to have any idea what job they would like to do.
When evaluating the Stepstone searches from 2022, it came out that 95 percent searched for the term "lateral entry" without a specific job title.
The willingness to change thus seems to be greater in the first place than the interest in a specific industry.
The rest looked particularly often for jobs in sales and IT.
Both sectors are very attractive for career changers due to their lack of skilled workers.
They also attract with a high income and good future and growth prospects.
It is estimated that there will be a shortage of around 1.1 million IT specialists by 2030.
Demand in the consulting area and in e-commerce is also increasing every year.
The constant further development of these industries make them a dynamic and attractive option for lateral entrants.
Customer service employees, online shop managers and commercial advisors, for example, are in demand.
In the sectors of care and health, education, online marketing, media and project management, career changers also have a good hand.
Disadvantages of lateral entry
However, lateral entry can also have some disadvantages.
Because of the lack of professional experience, career changers require a significantly longer familiarization phase in the new job.
During this time, they perform less than other employees and often have to complete additional training outside of working hours.
For companies, this means additional expenses.
Hiring someone with no professional experience always involves risk.
For career changers themselves, the adjustment phase represents a high level of physical and mental stress. It can be very challenging to take on completely new tasks and duties and to get used to an unfamiliar working environment.
Since the requirements are often higher than expected, many career changers feel overwhelmed and stressed.
Therefore, not every career change is a success.
If the employer has the impression that the career changer is not able to meet the necessary requirements, the employee may be dismissed.
This failure can result in career regression.
The career changer may be forced to return to his old job.
In addition, a negative evaluation by the employer can have an impact on future applications and employment opportunities.
Ten things that will immediately disqualify you in a job interview
Ten things that will immediately disqualify you in a job interview
For this reason, it is always important to have realistic expectations for the new job.
Career changers should find out beforehand about a change to the desired industry and be prepared to put a lot of time and effort into the induction phase.
The new job should be seen as a challenge and not a burden.
In the long term, there are many attractive perks that ultimately led to a change of career in advance.
Don't miss anything: You can find everything to do with careers in the regular careers newsletter from our partner Merkur.de.
Future perspectives of lateral entrants
Looking to the future, it can be said that career changers will play a very important role in the German economy.
The lack of personnel in many companies is an opportunity for employees to open up new professional perspectives.
The interest in lateral entry continues to grow.
According to a survey by Stepstone, the Boston Consulting Group and The Network from 2021, 55 percent of employees in Germany can imagine retraining for a completely new job.
Another Stepstone survey found that four out of five employees believe that changing careers at any time will help them achieve their personal career goals.
51 percent also stated that a "higher acceptance of career changers in companies" gives them the feeling of job security the most.
10,000 employees in Germany were surveyed.
Most people work in the leisure, tourism, culture and sports sectors (63 percent), followed by agencies, marketing, advertising and PR (62 percent).
List of rubrics: © IMAGO/Lars Fröhlich
