4.4 percent of the workforce in Germany are managers

People who work in Germany relatively rarely hold formal management positions. According to current data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), approximately 1.9 million employed people held management positions in 2025. This corresponds to 4.4 percent of the workforce, or roughly one in every 23 employed people.

It is noteworthy that this proportion has hardly changed over the past decade. In 2015, it was even slightly higher at 4.5 percent. While companies are changing their organizational structures and discussing new leadership models, the proportion of formal leadership positions thus remains largely constant.

The statistics include, among others, managing directors of small and large companies, division heads, and senior positions in administrative services. These figures are also of interest to entrepreneurs because they provide insight into the leadership structures of the German economy.

Hospitality Industry Has a Particularly High Number of Managers

The number of people assuming leadership responsibilities depends heavily on the specific industry. The proportion is particularly high in the hospitality industry. Here, in 2025, approximately 11.5 percent of all employed individuals held a managerial position.

A key reason for this is likely the sector’s fragmented structure. Many restaurants, hotels, and food service establishments employ relatively few staff but still require their own management.

In the real estate and housing sector, too, the proportion—at 7.6 percent—is well above average. Next comes the information and communications sector at 7.4 percent. This sector is particularly relevant to the startup scene, as numerous technology-oriented companies are based here.

In the construction industry and in retail—including automotive repair—the proportion is 5.4 percent in each sector. In the manufacturing sector, it stands at 5.2 percent.

The situation is quite different in labor-intensive sectors. In health care and social services, only 1.8 percent of the workforce holds a management position. The percentages are also comparatively low in public administration (2.2 percent) and in education (2.3 percent).

Germany Below the EU Average and Significant Pay Gaps

By European standards, Germany falls below the average. EU-wide, approximately 5.4 percent of all employed workers were managers in 2025. Ten years earlier, this figure stood at 5.2 percent. Malta (11.4 percent), Latvia (10.1 percent), and Lithuania (9.9 percent) recorded particularly high proportions. At the lower end of the spectrum are Romania (2.7 percent), Greece (3.0 percent), and Denmark (3.1 percent).

In addition to the number of management positions, the data reveal significant differences in compensation.

The median gross monthly earnings for executives in April 2025 were €7,024, while all full-time employees earned an average wage of €4,123. This means that the median earnings of executives are about 70 percent higher than the median for all full-time employees.

The gender gap remains striking. While male executives earn a median gross monthly salary of 7,451 euros, women in executive positions earn 5,806 euros. The difference amounts to 1,645 euros, or about 22 percent of men’s earnings. However, the figures do not show the extent to which factors such as industry, professional experience, or company size contribute to these differences.

Nevertheless, the results provide interesting insights for the German economy. Leadership remains concentrated among a comparatively small portion of the workforce. Whether this is primarily due to company size, industry structures, or different organizational models cannot be determined from the data alone.