Dresdenruns on a handful of strong industries. If you’re job-hunting or weighing a move, here’s where the opportunities (and the big-name employers) are.
Top industries & employers
Semiconductors & microelectronics
Infineon, GlobalFoundries, Bosch, ESMC (the TSMC joint venture)
Silicon Saxony is the largest microelectronics cluster in Europe by employment, and the new fabs north of the city — including the European TSMC joint venture with Bosch, Infineon and NXP — represent one of the largest industrial investments in German history.
Research institutes & universities
TU Dresden, Fraunhofer institutes, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf
TU Dresden holds excellence university status and the city has one of Germany's densest concentrations of non-university research institutes, weighted toward materials, microelectronics and cell biology.
Software & IT services
T-Systems Multimedia Solutions, ZEISS Digital Innovation, Communardo
A substantial IT services sector grew up alongside the university and the chip industry, and pays less than Munich while costing far less to live in — which is the whole local argument.
Life sciences & pharmaceuticals
BioInnovationsZentrum Dresden, pharmaceutical manufacturing in Radebeul, university hospital spin-outs
The biotech cluster sits alongside the Max Planck cell biology institute and the university hospital, with regenerative medicine and diagnostics the strongest strands.
Automotive & precision engineering
Volkswagen Gläserne Manufaktur, regional suppliers, machine building across the Elbe valley
The Transparent Factory in the centre of the city was built as a showroom-cum-assembly hall and has repeatedly changed role; the surrounding Saxon engineering base is older and quieter than the headline plants.
Culture & tourism
Semperoper, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Striezelmarkt, Sächsische Dampfschiffahrt
Dresden is one of Germany's leading cultural destinations and employs heavily in it — the state art collections alone run a dozen museums, and the Christmas market dates from 1434.
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