At the start of the new training year next Monday, experts and associations reiterated their warnings of a shortage of young people in many sectors and promoted vocational training.

The Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB) proposed the nationwide creation of trainee apartments as a possible countermeasure. “If our society needs more skilled workers, then it must also ensure that the trainees can be more mobile and can afford to rent near the training company,” said DGB board member Stefan Körzell of the German Press Agency.

In a position paper on the subject, which the dpa has received, the DGB advocates “the establishment of nationwide, attractive trainee dormitories in the form of trainee apartments”. The rent in subsidized apartments and dormitories should not be more than 25 percent of the average training allowance. “We expect the federal government to quickly launch its announced funding program for young living,” said Körzell.

Three-digit million amounts planned

In the coalition agreement, the Ampel parties had agreed to launch a federal-state program “for student housing, for young housing and housing for trainees”. Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz recently said in an interview with the DSW-Journal of the Deutsches Studentenwerk: “I would like to start the program at the beginning of 2023.” In doing so, she emphasized affordable housing options for trainees as well. The exact financial framework is currently being negotiated. It’s about three-digit million amounts, said Geywitz.

Permanent construction site lack of young people

At the start of the new training year, the President of the Federal Institute for Vocational Training (BIBB), Friedrich Hubert Esser, once again made it clear what the situation was like: “The range of specialists who are increasingly lacking is large: from roofers to software developers”. The year-long decline in the number of training contracts must finally be stopped. “Otherwise, in the near future we won’t have anyone else who builds wind turbines or installs modern heating and solar systems.”

With this, Esser also drew the link to the current situation: The political goals on paper, to break free from dependence on gas and oil from Russia, for example, can only be achieved with difficulty if there are no trained people who can do it with their hands can practically implement.

“We are missing a lot of young people in training,” said crafts president Hans Peter Wollseifer a few days ago. He assumes that there is a quarter of a million shortage of skilled workers in the trades alone. Goals, for example when installing heat pumps, are then difficult to achieve.

BIBB President Esser expressed the fear that the hoped-for recovery on the training market after the two years of Corona might not materialize as a result of the Russian war of aggression, since high energy prices and the impending gas shortage are burdening companies and increasing the risk of recession.

Fewer contracts and the matter of the fitting problem

473,100 new training contracts were concluded last year (as of September 30). In the 2000s, the average was still around 585,000 contracts per year. The second problem: mathematically speaking, there is one for everyone who is looking for an apprenticeship. But the reality is this: 63,200 training positions remained vacant last year – an increase of 3,200 and more than twice as many as ten years ago. At the same time, 24,600 applicants remained unplaced. Experts speak of a fit problem.

There are sectors with a shortage of trainees, such as food sales, gastronomy, butchers, plumbers, courier services or in concrete and steel construction. Elsewhere there are sometimes more applicants than places, for example in media design, animal care or the fitness industry. There are also regional differences.

Make vocational training more attractive

Internationally, the dual vocational training in Germany – the combination of theory in the vocational school with practical training in the company – is a “respected model”, according to the Conference of Ministers of Education. The Federal Ministry of Education calls vocational training a “success factor for Germany as a business location”.

According to Craft President Wollseifer, however, more should be done politically to make vocational training more attractive in the state. He speaks of more appreciation, more recognition and adequate funding. “Our educational institutions and vocational schools must no longer be treated as stepchildren in terms of educational policy. There must no longer be a two-tier society in educational policy.” You have to get away from the idea that only a degree can bring professional and personal success.

According to the BIBB, young people and young adults can choose from a total of 327 recognized training occupations at the beginning of the new training year. The top training occupation for young women last year was “medical assistant”, for men it was again “vehicle mechatronics technician”.