Doctors want to know more precisely what they can earn if they change jobs. This is one of the findings of the current “Doctors’ Barometer: Job Search & Career 2025”, the largest doctor-related career study in Germany with 3,132 physicians surveyed. According to the study results, almost half of those surveyed miss concrete information about salary when they look for new employers in job advertisements. And more doctors are currently doing this than the average of all employees. Currently, 79.9% of doctors are open to a change – 16.5% are actively looking and a further 30.1% are at least occasionally on job boards and the like. A third are not actively searching, but are open to direct company approaches.

Only one in twenty job advertisements mentions concrete salary figures

Concrete salary expectations play a major role in the implementation of the change plans. More than two-thirds of the doctors surveyed (69.3%) describe transparent salary information as a “significant incentive for an application”. In practice, however, this wish remains largely unfulfilled. This is shown by a look at job advertisements aimed at doctors. The result: Just 4.2% of the tenders examined contain a concrete figure or at least a tangible salary range. This means that the medical job market is falling well short of the expectations of applicants. Instead, vague formulations such as “an attractive salary” or “performance-related remuneration” dominate. 39.2% remain without concrete salary or collective bargaining information. After all, 56.6% of the advertisements examined refer to a specific tariff, but without specifying the associated sum.

A good working atmosphere is the top career priority of German doctors

In addition to salary, soft work criteria dominate the career ambitions of doctors. For many, these are even more important than what ends up in the pay packet. By far the most mentioned is a good working atmosphere, which 82.0% rate as “very important”. This is followed by the compatibility of work, family and leisure time (61.4%), working hours (55.5%), work content (54.6%) and, in 5th place, salary (48.5%). The working atmosphere and compatibility are therefore considered decisive characteristics of a “good job” in the medical profession. Gender-specific differences are striking: While two-thirds of female doctors (67.8%) rate compatibility as “very important”, the proportion of male doctors is 54.6%. The picture is similar for working hours (65.1% vs. 45.4%). Conversely, salary is more often decisive for men (53.8%) than for women (43.5%) – for chief physicians this proportion even reaches 55.7%.

About the study “Doctors’ Barometer: Job Search & Career 2025”

“Doctors’ Barometer: Job Search & Career 2025” is the largest labour market-related survey of doctors in Germany. 3,132 employed doctors in Germany took part in the online and print survey from May to July 2025. The survey was conducted by the Scientific Institute for Press Research and Audience Analysis (WIP) on behalf of ÄRZTESTELLEN, the job market of the Deutsches Ärzteblatt. The Deutsches Ärzteblatt is the official organ of the German Medical Association and the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians and the most widely read journal for doctors in Germany. ÄRZTESTELLEN supplemented the results of the survey with sample analyses of job advertisements for doctors. For this purpose, 800 job advertisements were analyzed.

The white paper on the study contains further figures, analyses and background information as well as ten tips for employers. It is available for download free of charge on the website of ÄRZTESTELLEN: https://aerztestellen.aerzteblatt.de/de/content/aerztebarometer-2025

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

Gender Notice. The personal designations used in this text always refer equally to female, male and diverse persons. Double/triple naming and gendered designations are used for better readability. ected.