Cost of hiring office and admin staff in Germany
Clerical support workers in Germany (assistants, receptionists, bookkeeping and data clerks) earned €45,568 a year on average in the latest EU-wide earnings survey[1].
Clerical pay in Germany is among the highest in Europe, 1.7 times the median country (€26,981.0). Professionals (accountants, recruiters, marketing specialists) earn 1.6 times what clerical staff do.
Average pay by occupation group
| Group | EUR per year | USD | Our roles in this group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professionals (ISCO-08 group 2) | $82,713 | Accountant, Recruiter, Marketing Specialist, Project Coordinator | |
| Technicians and associate professionals (ISCO-08 group 3) | $62,476 | Paralegal, Sales Development Representative | |
| Clerical support workers (ISCO-08 group 4) | $51,073 | Executive Assistant, Administrative Assistant, Virtual Receptionist, Office Manager | |
| All occupations | $57,208 |
USD at the ECB reference rate of 2026-10-16[2]. Eurostat publishes earnings by major occupation group only, for enterprises with 10+ employees, before employer contributions.
What the employer pays on top
An hour of work cost employers €45.0 in Germany in 2025 (business economy, excluding public administration)[3]; 23.5% of that was non-wage cost, mainly employer social contributions.
| Group | Estimated employer cost per year |
|---|---|
| Professionals (ISCO-08 group 2) | €96,468 |
| Technicians and associate professionals (ISCO-08 group 3) | €72,865 |
| Clerical support workers (ISCO-08 group 4) | €59,566 |
Labour cost per hour since 2008
| Year | Cost per hour | Change since 2008 |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | +0% | |
| 2012 | +9% | |
| 2016 | +18% | |
| 2020 | +32% | |
| 2022 | +42% | |
| 2025 | +61% |
In euro terms, hourly labour cost in Germany rose 61% from 2008 to 2025; the median across the 27 countries with data for both years was +75%. Costs here grew more slowly than in most of Europe.
Countries with similar labour costs
A remote hire from Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine or Kazakhstan
At the top of our range (about €11,777 a year) a remote executive assistant costs 26% of the 2022 average clerical wage in Germany, plus a one-time fee of $2,500–$3,000[4].
Your 9:00–17:00 in Berlin (UTC+1 in winter), in their local time
| City | Time zone | Your day, their time (Jan) | Shared hours (Jan) | Shared hours (Jul) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tbilisi | UTC+4 | 12:00–20:00 | 6 h | 7 h |
| Yerevan | UTC+4 | 12:00–20:00 | 6 h | 7 h |
| Kyiv | UTC+2 | 10:00–18:00 | 8 h | 8 h |
| Almaty | UTC+5 | 13:00–21:00 | 5 h | 6 h |
From Berlin, Kyiv shares the most of a working day (8 hours in January).
Questions
How much does an administrative assistant earn in Germany?
Clerical support workers earned €45,568 a year on average in 2022 (Eurostat SES).
What are employer costs in Germany?
Labour cost was €45.0 per hour in 2025, with 23.5% non-wage costs.
Sources
- Eurostat, Structure of Earnings Survey 2022 (earn_ses22_28): https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/earn_ses22_28/default/table
- European Central Bank, official exchange rate 2026-10-16: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/eurofxref/eurofxref-daily.xml
- Eurostat, labour cost levels (lc_lci_lev): https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/lc_lci_lev/default/table
- Silkstaff pricing: https://silkstaff.com/#pricing
How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Data checked 2026-10-16.