Machine assembly and precision CNC machining, both 3.5-year industrial trades — but the demand picture for one of them just changed, and it’s worth knowing before you plan around it.
| Duration | 3.5 years, both trades |
| Sector pay average (2025) | €1,266/month — Industrie und Handel |
| Shortage occupation | Zerspanungsmechaniker (CNC) dropped OFF the 2025 shortage list |
| Entry requirement | No legal minimum; Hauptschulabschluss commonly the floor in practice |
Industriemechaniker covers machine and plant assembly, maintenance, and repair — broader mechanical engineering work. Zerspanungsmechaniker is the narrower precision track: CNC programming, machining, and metrology. Typical employers for both are mid-size Mittelstand manufacturers and automotive-supply plants, a genuinely different environment from the building-services employers common for electricians.
Worth stating plainly: cutting/CNC metalworking appeared on Germany’s shortage list in 2023 and 2024, but the Bundesagentur für Arbeit’s 2025 analysis shows it dropped off. That’s useful, honest context if an agent is pitching this trade on a shortage-visa argument specifically — the national demand picture has shifted.