For the Decoding Digital Talent study , the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), StepStone, and The Network - a global association of online job portals in 130 countries - surveyed around 27,000 digital experts from 180 nations in 2018, 1,648 of whom were from Germany. The study defines employees with expertise in one or more of the following fields as digital experts: artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, data mining, mobile app development, programming or digital marketing. The online survey focused on willingness to work abroad, preferred labor markets and locations, and job preferences.

Around one third of respondents said that they were prepared to move to Germany for a job. Only the USA is more popular worldwide in this respect: around 40% of respondents would go there for work. Canada comes in third. Foreign digital experts find Berlin to be a particularly attractive city, ranking it third in the world after London and New York. London, Amsterdam and New York are the three cities that German IT professionals would be most inclined to move to.