Companies in Germany are very much in need of staff, as can be seen from the number of unfilled positions. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the number of vacancies across the country stood at almost 1.73 million and 84 per cent of these were for an immediate start. This is the highest level since IAB began collecting this data as part of its regular survey of businesses and shows the urgency of firms’ recruitment efforts in many sectors.
Vocational training and apprenticeships have a key role to play in ensuring an adequate supply of skilled workers for the future and reducing the shortages of skilled workers that currently exist. However, the trainee/apprenticeship market in Germany itself faces considerable challenges as a result of demographic change, the digital and environmental transformation of the economy, and the impact of these trends on the world of work.
How has the trainee/apprenticeship market evolved? How can companies attract young people to sign up as trainees and apprentices? And what role can careers information and advice play in this regard? Will the training guarantee being introduced on 1 April of this year make a difference? What impact do the processes of transformation have on training, apprenticeships and jobs? How can training and apprenticeships be structured so as to avoid mismatches between supply and demand for training places? IAB’s research focuses on these and other questions regarding training and apprenticeships.
We have compiled a list of IAB publications and projects on this page that are related to this topic. These also contain a variety of other information, including structural data, trends and prospects for the trainee/apprenticeship market and the determinants that lead to contracts being terminated prematurely and people abandoning their training or apprenticeship. There are also details of what impact the coronavirus pandemic had on vocational training and apprenticeships for people with disabilities and on refugees’ access to training, apprenticeships, and jobs.
Activities
- Publications on the topic: Training and Apprenticeships
- Projects on the topic: Training and Apprenticeships
Working Group
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