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There is still a shortage of thousands of apprentices in the skilled trades. On TikTok, two craftsmen explain what some of their colleagues are doing wrong.
“It’s our own fault,” agree the two craftsmen Ben Berger (@benberg.er) and Benni Schwarz (@handwerker.brueder) with regard to the lack of apprentices in their industry. In videos on the TikTok platform, they blame the discriminatory behavior of some of their colleagues for the unfilled apprenticeship positions.
According to the vocational training report of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the training market is recovering. In 2023, three percent more people started training than in the previous year. Nevertheless, the supply of companies and the demand of young people often do not match. More than 73,000 apprenticeship positions could not be filled in 2023. “In the skilled trades alone, there were around 20,500 vacancies last year,” explains Jörg Dittrich, Chairman of the Central Association of German Skilled Crafts (ZDH).
Schwarz also sees politics as having a responsibility: “Crafts must be strengthened.” School should not just be about studying, he explains BuzzFeed News Deutschlandvon IPPEN.MEDIAThe industry needs young people for the future. But how do they view the trade?
More on the topic: How a roofer inspires people as an influencer for the craft.
Craftsmen report: Women “only get rejections”
The two craftsmen criticize the attitude of some of their colleagues. Master craftsmen and journeymen complain that “only a few people are interested in going into the trades anymore.” But Berger knows that this is not true: “I get messages from young women who are looking for an apprenticeship and are only turned down because many companies simply do not want to train women.” One excuse that is often used is that there are no women’s toilets.
“The carpenter with a 2.0 high school diploma didn’t want me because I’m a woman and that only brings ‘drama’ into the company,” says one user in the comments under Schwarz’s video. She is not alone in her experience: “20 years ago I wanted to be a vehicle mechatronics engineer. ‘No women’s toilets’ was already standard back then. Now I have two degrees and only work on my own car. If you don’t want to, you already have it,” writes another woman.
More on the subject: How young female craftswomen want to save the climate with their training
Thousands of apprenticeship positions remain unfilled in the skilled trades. Two TikTokers are blaming the industry itself. (Symbolic image) © Shotshop/Imago
Lack of apprentices: “If tradesmen are like that, I don’t want to do it”
“Many older men in the trades generally have a problem with young people. As a young person, you are treated like dirt. You don’t know anything and can’t do anything anyway,” commented one user.
Some in the industry openly share their intolerance: Berger says that he has received threats of violence and insults from tradesmen in several videos because he said, for example, “tradesmen instead of tradesmen”. He also had similar experiences when he spoke out against homophobia, racism and misogyny, the young man reports.
This is an article by BuzzFeed News Deutschland. We are part of the IPPEN.MEDIAnetwork. Here you can find all contributions from BuzzFeed News Deutschland.
“Imagine you have a 16 or 17 year old girl who is really keen to go into the trades and then sees comments like that. Of course she thinks, ‘If tradespeople are like that, I don’t want to do it,'” says Berger. “But I know that the vast majority of people in the trades are just great people.” The two tradesmen agree on that too.
