IT Ausbildung is genuinely well-structured and in-demand with individual employers — but Germany’s own 2025 shortage analysis didn’t flag it nationally, unlike nursing or dental assistants. Worth knowing before you plan around a shortage-visa argument that isn’t currently there.
| Duration | 3 years — 18 months shared curriculum, 18 months track-specific |
| Tracks | Anwendungsentwicklung (software) or Systemintegration (infrastructure) |
| Shortage occupation | Not currently flagged nationally — software and IT sales both dropped off the 2025 list |
| Entry requirement | No legal minimum, but over half of apprentices hold Abitur in practice |
Anwendungsentwicklung (FIAE) is the programming-heavy track — designing and building software across business, technical and multimedia systems, commonly in Python, Java or C#. Systemintegration (FISI) leans toward infrastructure — networks, servers, data centres, client-server architecture. Both share the first 18 months before splitting.
Unlike nursing or dental assisting, IT did not appear on Germany’s 2025 Engpassberufe list — software development and IT sales both dropped off compared to 2024. That doesn’t mean individual employers aren’t hiring; it does mean the “guaranteed shortage-visa pathway” framing some agents use for IT specifically isn’t backed by the government’s own current data the way it is for nursing or dental assisting.