Berlin The situation on the German training market is still heavily influenced by the corona crisis. A total of 511,300 apprenticeship positions were reported to the employment agencies and job centers from October 2020 to September 2021 – 19,000 fewer than in the same period of the previous year, as the Federal Employment Agency (BA) announced on Thursday.
The number of applicants for an apprenticeship position fell much more sharply. It fell by 39,400 to 433,500 compared to the previous year. According to the BA, one reason is the limited access to career counseling due to the pandemic, which could not be completely replaced by digital offers.
He encouraged applicants to open up to training opportunities beyond their dream job. Employers who have not found suitable candidates should broaden their view of applicants who may not initially meet all requirements 100 percent, said Scheele.
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For every 100 registered apprenticeships, there are 87 applicants
As further reported by the BA, there were 87 registered applicants for every 100 registered company training positions nationwide. A few days ago, the associations BDA, DIHK and BFB complained that for the 14th year in a row, more vacant apprenticeships were to be expected than applicants who were not placed.
As of September 30th, no suitable applicants had been found for 63,200 apprenticeships registered with the BA – 3,200 more than in the previous year. Companies in the hotel and restaurant professions, in the food industry, in health technology and in construction professions had difficulties in filling vacant apprenticeships.
There were 24,600 unsupported applicants, which corresponds to six percent of all registered applicants.
As a representative survey for the learning platform Simpleclub among 1000 schoolchildren aged 16 and over shows, companies could find more trainees if they were more digital: every fourth school leaver aiming for an apprenticeship says that apprenticeships would be more interesting if they had more digital content according to the investigation, which is available to the Handelsblatt.
Of those who have already decided against vocational training, almost one in five thinks that they would be more enthusiastic about an apprenticeship if the training was designed in a contemporary way, for example with digital learning and exercise content.
Every third company is not even present on the Internet
According to a Forsa survey, however, every third company does not even have an Internet presence. In order to attract trainees, however, they must at least finally go online, recommended the Competence Center Securing Skilled Workers (Kofa) at the Institute of German Economy (IW) recently.
But the salary also plays a central role: Almost a quarter of the students surveyed decide against an apprenticeship occupation because they assume that higher qualifications will enable you to earn more money later. Of those who opted for an apprenticeship, a good half cited as a reason to finally want to earn money.
In general, many pupils at school would like more information about apprenticeships: That is what a good third of those who have decided against vocational training say, and even more than half of those who want to do an apprenticeship.
A full 39 percent of the latter group think that more opportunities to try out different activities through internships would make apprenticeships more interesting. However, internships were only possible to a limited extent due to the corona restrictions.
Vocational orientation at schools leaves a lot to be desired
The business associations have long complained about the lack of professional orientation in schools, which was particularly neglected in high schools. On the other hand, schools complain that it is difficult to find enough internships for students.
And although the greatest potential lies in the future job market in the IT sector, of those who want to do an apprenticeship, less than five percent are interested in MINT professions (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology). The most popular are skilled trades, in which a quarter are interested, followed by commercial professions with 21 percent.
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