Schwerin (dpa / mv) – According to a survey, the proportion of trainees in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania who start an apprenticeship in their dream job has fallen. As the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) in the state announced on Tuesday, 73 percent of the trainees surveyed from the first year of apprenticeship stated that they were completing an apprenticeship in their dream job, 5 percentage points less than in previous years. Among the job descriptions that were actually aimed for are midwives and educators, as well as professional groups with a great deal of concern for young people. According to the IHK, 561 trainees and thus 14 percent of the current first year of training in the state took part in the survey.
Torsten Haasch, General Manager of the Neubrandenburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce for eastern Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, sees the result as positive despite the decline: “We are coming from a two-year pandemic, where there was no de facto opportunity to attend careers orientation fairs.” He therefore described the proportion as a “very good number”, but also made it clear what problems the IHK believes the young people are facing due to the development in the pandemic.
Despite a drop of 20 percentage points, more than half of the respondents still stated that internships helped them with career orientation. Haasch is very critical of the decline compared to the previous survey: “Internships are the most important element in getting to know a job”. He therefore called on companies to approach schools and improve access to internships again.
In addition, the industry representatives – also in comparison to the other new federal states – see the local training endangered, which from their point of view particularly disadvantages companies in the countryside. Haasch pointed out that almost 30 percent of the survey participants stated that they had moved for their education, compared to just under 17.5 percent on average in the eastern German states. He therefore called for more support from the state government in order to strengthen the offer of the 21 vocational schools in the state with digital means: Smaller locations should be able to expand their training opportunities through digital teaching.
