In 2020, the minimum wage was also introduced for trainees.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin In the current training year, wages for apprentices have risen sharply in many sectors – in some cases by more than 20 percent. This is shown by an evaluation of 20 collective bargaining sectors by the Economic and Social Science Institute (WSI) of the Hans Böckler Foundation, which is close to the trade union.
“The parties to the collective bargaining agreement are reacting to falling training numbers and an increasing shortage of skilled workers, which cannot be countered without a significant improvement in the level of remuneration,” said Thorsten Schulten, head of the WSI collective bargaining archive. In order to increase the attractiveness of certain training occupations, however, it is urgently necessary to strengthen the collective bargaining agreement.
In recent years, the number of new trainee contracts has fallen massively. Things are not looking any better for the next apprenticeship year, which begins in late summer: by the end of June, slightly fewer applicants had registered with the employment agencies and job centers. At the same time, there are more and more young unskilled workers.
Wages are seen as an adjusting screw to increase interest in training again. Therefore, the statutory minimum wage was introduced here in 2020 as well.
The bakery trade recorded the largest increase in salary in 2022/23. From August 2023, training allowances in companies will increase by 26.5 percent in the first year.
Not all sectors have higher wages for trainees
There were also increases of 20 percent and more in the hospitality industry in Bavaria, in floristry in West Germany and companies in the confectionery industry in North Rhine-Westphalia. Trainee wages in the hospitality industry in Saxony and in private banking have increased by more than ten percent. In the majority of sectors, remuneration rose by between two and 7.5 percent.
There were no increases in a few sectors. This is partly due to the fact that collective bargaining is still ongoing, for example at Deutsche Bahn or the hairdressing trade in North Rhine-Westphalia. In other sectors, such as the automotive trade, agreed increases will only come into force later.
The range of wages is enormous: Currently, the collectively agreed training allowances in the first year are between the legally fixed minimum wage of 620 euros per month, which is paid in hairdressing or in east German floristry, for example, and up to 1580 euros in west German construction.
In ten of the 20 collective bargaining sectors examined, trainees at least partially earn more than 1,000 euros per month. These include the hospitality industry in Bavaria, which with the most recent increase has reached the 1000 euro mark for the first time, the textile industry in Baden-Württemberg with 1015 euros, Deutsche Bahn with a nationwide 1020 euros and the printing industry, which pays 1025 to new trainees nationwide.
Apprentices in public care facilities get the most money
There is also more than 1000 euros in the public sector: Here the federal government and municipalities pay 1068 euros per month, the states (excluding Hesse) 1087 euros.
>>Read here: More than 2.6 million people between the ages of 20 and 35 are unskilled – a new record high
There is more in nursing, which is plagued by a particularly large shortage of staff: there, in public institutions, there are 1,231 euros across the states in the first year of training, and 1,191 euros across the federal government and municipalities. At the same time, these are the highest trainee salaries in a WSI comparison. The institute announced that in some private institutions, significantly less was paid.
The lowest training allowances are found in agriculture in the North Rhine district at 790 euros, in NRW hairdressing at 610 euros and in East German floristry at 585 euros. The last two areas are even below the statutory minimum training allowance.
More: Wages are rising – although collective agreements are falling