Shortage of trainees in Germany reaches critical level, commerical body warns

Germany’s shortage of young trainees has reached critical levels, with a record number of firms unable to fill places in their companies. According to a survey of 14,000 firms, some 47 per cent still had vacant training places while more than one-third (37 per cent) had filled none.

Amid growing reports of a record trainee shortage, the survey by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) found the most grave gaps in the catering, industry and trade sectors. It said the most pressing reason for the shortage of new workers was Germany’s ageing population.

“Today, we have 100,000 fewer school-leavers than a decade ago,” said Achim Dercks, DIHK chief executive.

While companies report too few job-starters, simultaneously 400,000 workers are leaving the German labour market annually and taking their skills and experience with them. In the medium term, the DIHK warns that today’s imbalance in workplace arrivals and departures is a grave skills shortage tomorrow.

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Germany’s labour market demographic difficulties have been growing serious since the first registered surplus of places over applicants in 2008. Beyond that, experts point to special factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic, which closed most workplaces for work placements and internships.

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They also point to a shift in interests among young people: while 62 per cent of restaurants and cafes in the survey struggled to fill trainee places, just one-third of IT firms reported difficulties.

The DIHK has spotted a few chinks of light on the horizon, noting 207,000 contracts signed until July of this year – up nearly 4 per cent on the same time last year.

Last year, nearly 470,000 young people signed a trainee contract, up 0.8 per cent on the previous year but still down eight percentage points on pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

A growing number of German firms indicated in the survey that, to make themselves more attractive, they had flattened hierarchies and acquired new IT equipment. Some 80 per cent of those surveyed said they had explored posting clips on TikTok and engaging familiar faces as brand and industry spokespeople.

Germany’s so-called dual-training system allows school-leavers combine theoretical learning with practical workplace experience and, along with classic training schemes, is viewed the backbone of the country’s economy.

Each year, every second German school-leaver opts for some sort of vocational training and the DIHK, with backing from the federal government, has begun exporting the system to other countries – from South Korea to Ireland.

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“The dual system itself is not in question in Germany,” said Dominik Ohlig of DIHK. “We just have, quantitatively, too few people and too many school-leavers seeking orientation.”

Germany’s federal institute for vocational training (BIBB) insists that all is not lost. It says the numbers of young people choosing the dual-training path last year is up 11 per cent since 2019 – and up 62 per cent on a decade ago.

“The training market is shifting towards being an applicants’ market – meaning those offering training increasingly have to tout for trainees,” said Friedrich Hubert-Esser, BIBB president. “From studies, we know young people prefer professions with tasks and earning opportunities that correspond to their own notions, and from which they expect social recognition.”