[jfaucett]

this. I think many German startups perceive it as hip to speak English (while 95℅ of the team speaks fluent if not natively German), and completely neglect the real world negative consequences this policy creates. IMHO the benefits are in most startup cases near none. First, for most German startups your market is German speaking, second almost any super English only speaking talent is going to be even more exited to work for you if you can offer them assimilation, valuable German language work experience, and give them access to all German society has to offer. This is especially true for any immigrant. Finally, in the long term some people might not care about participating in society, watching news, speaking to people without a stilted veil of a foreign accent, or bugging a friend to get a repairman to come to their house, but the vast majority will prefer to be treated as other Germans not as outsiders and be able to fully function in society.

[SyneRyder]

I read somewhere (can't find the reference right now) that many German companies require everyone to speak English in the workplace because of pan-EU work policies. It's an interchange language that also allows citizens from Sweden & Italy etc to work with German speakers, since they all share solid English-as-a-second-language speaking skills. It isn't just limited to startups.

[That said, I absolutely believe immigrants should make every effort to learn the native language, it's why I've spent so long trying to learn German before attempting to move there.]

[jfaucett]

This is true - externally i.e. outside the 100 million+ people German speaking market. If you need to do business with Swedes, you will do this is English, same for most other EU member states. My point was specific to startups though, once you are a large established company with offices across Europe, English becomes much more beneficial.