Only a small proportion of Thuringian companies train apprentices themselves – although many more companies have the prerequisites for this. Nevertheless, the state government believes that there are enough training places available.
Erfurt (dpa/th) – Although many Thuringian companies complain about a lack of young people, the Ministry of Labor believes that there is currently no need for further training places in the state. “In Thuringia there is no lack of company training places – on the contrary,” said ministry spokeswoman Silke Fliess of the German Press Agency. For some time now, there have been significantly more apprenticeships than school leavers, so that not all apprenticeships can be filled. Therefore, more companies should not necessarily be encouraged to train young people. Nevertheless, there are regional and industry-specific differences.
According to data from the Federal Institute for Vocational Training, the number of training companies in Bavaria has been fairly constant for years. According to this, around 8,800 companies trained young people to become skilled workers in 2012. In 2020 there were around 9000 companies. According to the information, the number of companies in Thuringia fell from around 60,600 to 55,600 during this period. As a result, the proportion of training companies rose slightly from around 15 to around 16 percent.
In a national comparison, Thuringia, along with Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony, is one of the few countries in which the number of training companies has recently increased at least slightly, according to the Federal Institute for Vocational Training. In western German states such as Bavaria, Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate, the number of training companies decreased somewhat between 2012 and 2020. “In a comparison of east and west, as well as with a view to the national average, the participation in training by Thuringian companies can be rated positively,” said Fliess.
According to the Ministry of Labour, the decision to train young people depends largely on the size of a company. While only around 44 percent of companies with one to nine employees take part in training, it is around 88 percent of companies with between 50 and 249 employees. Basically, the company or dual training in Thuringia must be made even more attractive due to the negative demographic development, said the ministry spokeswoman.
The data from the Federal Institute for Vocational Training show that significantly more companies could train. While only around 16 percent of companies in Thuringia actually employed apprentices in 2020, around 53 percent of companies had the necessary prerequisites for this.
According to the Employment Agency, there were still 6,629 unfilled training places in Thuringia in June. That is almost 800 or 13.6 percent more vacancies than in the previous year. A total of 12,134 training places and 7259 applicants were recorded in Bavaria in June.
