Despite its high unemployment level, Germany is experiencing a shortage of specialists and managers. Germany's need for highly qualified information technology (IT) workers and engineers is particularly great. Approximately 10,000 posts for computer scientists and IT specialists remained vacant in 1998. Because of the shortage of such specialists, "side door" entrants who have studied related disciplines such as engineering and natural sciences and have some knowledge of computer science now also have good chances of a job in the IT sector. A total of 13,000 new jobs were reported in Germany's social care sector in 1998. Almost all of Germany's industrial branches are urgently seeking engineers. The job prospects for economists are questionable unless graduates can show that they have also completed a business training course. The job prospects for lawyers and legal advisers with first-class degrees are improving, and 2,600 more teachers were hired in 1998-1999 than in the previous school year. Employment opportunities for German mathematicians, physicists, chemists, and biologists have also improved considerably. Positions for language and culture scholars also increased. Individuals with the prerequisites for positions in the IT and engineering sectors should be able to secure jobs on the spot. (MN)