Salary and Benefits in Germany

Question

Hello Together,

I am German and look to start in management consulting. I can find many links and lists about salaries and benefits and bonuses in the UK and USA, but not many for Germany. I use Glassdoor but even for entry level positions, which is what I am interested about, there is a big range in base salary and bonuses, usually 20-30,000€ difference in the same firm and location for the same position. I read here there is no negotiation for entry positions and all are equal, so I wonder how this is possible? Is it because education levels start at different amounts?

I also wonder what kind of benefits and bonuses consultants in Germany have. I read here in another thread there is no sign-on bonus. What about relocation bonus? Is salary higher in expensive cities such as München and Hamburg or the same in every city?

I am interested to know for MBB and 2 tier and lower and inhouse too (Like Siemens or DHL). I know every firm and tier is different but want to ask to get a better understanding.

Answer 1

Hey anonymous,

Let me just add to this conversation that in some markets there are also inhouse consultancies, that can be mapped to the Tier 1 / 2 / 3 logic, e.g. in Germany / US / China often Siemens Management Consulting (now Strategy unit of Siemens Advanta Consulting) is seen similar to a Tier 1 (MBB) consultancy with competitive salaries until the EM level.

Best

Simon

Answer 2

Hi Anonymous,

speaking for MBB:

Conditions are fixed and identical across all cities in Germany (non-negotiable for fresh university graduates)
You get a lump-sum relocation allowance (you could call this relocation bonus)
Starting salary around 70-75k for master level ("Fellow" at McK / "Associate" at BCG), around 100-110k for PhD/Top-MBA level ("Associate" at McK, "(Junior) Consultant" at BCG).
Possibility for firm car (or corresponding mobility package as an alternative at McK) on top. Here the policies differ a bit across the firms.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Hey there,

To answer your point about significant price differences in positions on Glassdoor (at least for MBB):

With Tenure, salary typically increases every year (usually ~10%), even without promotion. So a second year consultant will earn more
Some people will include different components of their income on glassdoor - e.g. include signing bonus or end of year bonus.

This may be different for other firms though. I know at Accenture payment is widely based on Tenure and previous performacne so there are actually some managers earning more than senior managers (from a colleague who was ex-accenture).