Despite the lack of and inadequate training places, the positive outweighs the negative: “Dual training remains a successful model,” said DGB youth secretary Kristof Becker, summarizing the trade union federation’s latest training report. Almost 70 percent of the apprentices surveyed are satisfied with their vocational training.
This is especially true for industrial mechanics and clerks, who are often protected by a collective agreement. At the bottom of the scale are dental assistants, hotel managers and warehouse workers, all of which are “vocations that require training and are often not paid according to the collective agreement,” according to the report, which was presented in Berlin on Thursday.
“Tens of thousands of trainers in companies do an excellent job,” said the Association of Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), pleased with the satisfaction rate. Almost two thirds of the companies “score points with flat hierarchies and modern IT technology in order to attract trainees.” Should there be difficulties during the training, the Chambers of Industry and Commerce’s consultants are on hand to support the trainees and the companies.
There are plenty of problems. For example, in the kitchen. More than half of the aspiring cooks drop out of their training, which the DGB explains with an average of six hours of overtime per week; the extra work is often not paid. A good third of the 10,300 trainees surveyed for the report said they regularly have to work overtime. Only 15 percent of trainees often have to do tasks unrelated to their training, such as making coffee or cleaning.
35.000
Training contracts less than before Corona
Last year, 479,900 people began dual vocational training, around 35,000 fewer than in 2019, the last year before Corona. Half of the training companies in the area of the Chambers of Industry and Commerce were recently unable to fill all of their training positions. This year, too, the number of places will remain a good 35,000 below the 2019 level, said DGB deputy chairwoman Elke Hannack. The number of young people without qualifications is increasing.
Every year, around 150,000 young people waste away in the transition system.
Elke Hannack, Deputy Chairwoman of the DGB
Currently, 2.9 million people between the ages of 20 and 34 have no vocational qualifications. Every year, around 150,000 young people “rotte away” in the school transition system, said Hannack. These people usually remain without qualifications, and the result is a life of precarious employment and poverty.
Only one in five companies provides training
On the other hand, less than one in five companies (18.9 percent) now offer training – this is also a negative record, according to Hannack; ten years ago, the figure was 22 percent. “Start training more again! Give those who have so far fallen through the cracks too often a chance,” appealed Hannack, calling on employers to make use of the help offered by the employment agencies. Many companies are not even aware that there is support for trainees with learning difficulties.
According to the trade, more and more young people “with sometimes serious learning deficits, partly due to the pandemic to struggle with reading, arithmetic and writing”. In addition to instruments such as entry-level qualification or “assisted training”, further offers are required “that accompany school leavers in a practical and realistic way on their way to training”, says Jörg Dittrich, President of the Crafts Association.
More Plus texts on the topic
Combating the shortage of skilled workers in Berlin Alliance for Work publishes target figures for trainees Trained on the other side of the world The rocky road to becoming a German nurse
Furthermore, career guidance should be expanded at general schools and in upper secondary schools, and vocational and academic education should be treated equally. Just like students, trainees also need affordable housing, which is why the states are required to “create additional accommodation options for trainees.”
The DGB, on the other hand, primarily addresses employers who, for example, do not provide adequately qualified trainers and do not allow enough time for training. “In particular, personal feedback is often neglected. Only 45 percent receive personal feedback at least once a month,” says the training report.
