The consequences of demographic change are being felt to very different degrees from one region of Germany to another, and are already leading to shortages of skilled workers in some occupational fields.
The articles in this issue highlight these developments and explore the challenges this poses for the education and employment system. Not just policymakers but particularly also companies and educational establishments are called upon to find innovative strategies to address these sometimes radical changes. In support of this, the current issue of BWP (Vocational Training in Research and Practice) presents research findings and practical approaches which are equally important to companies, education and training providers and regional networks.
Against the backdrop of EU efforts to review Member States' regulations on access to certain occupations, the President of BIBB, Prof. Dr. Esser, uses the Editorial to emphasise the significance of the master craftsperson qualification to high-quality initial vocational training, which needs to be safeguarded come what may.
As a basis for successful continuation of the Continuing Education and Training Monitor (wbmonitor), Germany’s annual online surveys of continuing vocational education providers, the address database has been updated. As a result of this almost two-year project, around 8,000 new provider addresses in total were added to the address pool. Based on this updated data, the article describes the supply of continuing education providers in relation to the German population, referring to provider numbers and density at administrative-district level.
Even now, some sectors and regions are already feeling the consequences of demographic change. Furthermore, many companies fear no longer being able to find enough skilled workers in the foreseeable future, and having to absorb losses of productivity and competitive disadvantages. This raises the question of how they combat these trends. At the instigation of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) and the Initiative New Quality of Work (INQA), more than 350 companies have joined forces in The Demographic Network (ddn). Their common objective is to shape an active response to demographic change. The interview with the chair of the Network’s management board sheds light on challenges and opportunities, and introduces the work of the ddn.
The drastic demographically-induced drop in demand for training places means that many regions in eastern Germany today have a school-leaver placement ratio far above the average for Germany as a whole. In the wake of this recovery, whilst the percentage of trainees commuting away has declined in many eastern German regions, the number of outward commuters still exceeds the number of inward commuters in most cases. The article high-lights which eastern German regions are especially affected by surpluses of trainees com-muting away from home.
The declining birth rate in Germany since 1990 is increasingly showing differences between the German federal states. In a few regions, the viability of vocational schools in certain locations is under threat. Nevertheless, the qualification requirements of the labour market and growing demand for skilled workers, who need to be recruited from contracting birthrate cohorts, are presenting vocational schools with new tasks. Against this backdrop, the article outlines developmental perspectives in a differentiated way for different domains of training.
Tasks and challenges for the Dithmarschen regional vocational training centre Dithmarschen vocational training centre (BerufsBildungsZentrum Dithmarschen) is currently one of the largest vocational schools in Schleswig-Holstein with 4,200 students and 200 teachers on three sites, and has had regional vocational training centre (Regionales Berufsbildungszentrum, RBZ) status since 2008. The demographic trend and the rapid pace of technical progress present the institution with major challenges, which are discussed in the article.
To fill the shortage of skilled workers that is forecast for the next ten years due to demographic changes, the training of people without a formal qualification is gaining in significance. As the article will show, the proportion of economically active persons with migrant backgrounds living in Germany is especially high in this group. The article discusses to what extent this potential can be harnessed to meet qualification-specific demand for skilled workers and on what scale the potential economically active population in Germany can be enlarged by means of immigration. Attention is drawn to the importance of coordinated policy measures.
The trend in the past few years shows that despite rising numbers of people in employment and German industry’s high demand for skilled workers, fewer and fewer companies are participating in dual system initial vocational training and the number of newly concluded training contracts has dropped sharply. Against this backdrop and taking account of regional differences in the trend for newly concluded training contracts, the article examines whether there are differences in different apprenticeshipplace markets as regards the training situation of companies and the problems of matching supply with demand. This is done on the basis of data from the BIBB Training Panel supplemented by official statistics.
The consequences of demographic change are being felt particularly in Germany’s eastern federal states, and are leading to a shift in the relation between supply and demand on the apprenticeship-place market. Small and medium-sized enterprises in particular are adapting their training strategies to market conditions. In a qualitative study by the Universities of Jena and Rostock, four in-company initial vocational training strategies could be identified and typical patterns of practice inferred, which are presented and reflected upon in the article.
In the transition from school into working life, effective cooperation among the various institutions and actors is frequently urged. For regional or municipal networks, digital work platforms can effectively support the communication processes of the parties involved. This is explained in the article and exemplified by the portal qualiboXX.
The shortage of skilled workers arising in the hospitality industry due to demographic change is accentuated by its youth-centred emphasis and high fluctuation rate. Currently the INDIGHO project is studying how staff retention and health can be increased in the long term. To this end, “critical phases” in the course of working life are identified so as to derive measures appropriate to each life-phase.
In the framework of the project on horizontal career changes coordinated by the Institute for Work and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance, a digital guide was developed to help employees search for a new occupation taking account of such issues as health impairments. It is intended to support small and medium-sized enterprises in their staff planning. The objectives, strategic concept and possible applications are presented in the article.
Regional funding measures can be supported effectively by foundations. One example is the ProRegion Foundation established by the company Fraport AG. The article describes its genesis, principles and funding priorities as well as selected projects that it supports.
The four law occupations covered by the ReNoPat Training Regulation are currently undergoing reform. As a result, fundamental innovations are being introduced with regard to training contents and examination structures. The article introduces the essential changes.
The planned introduction of a legal minimum wage for the German economy is current leading to intense discussions about the consequences, including the impacts on initial vocational training. The article attempts to assess how the introduction of a minimum wage might affect initial vocational training.
German skilled craft businesses have relied on their own training activities for many decades in order to meet their own needs for qualified staff. Recently the sectoral percentage of companies providing training has been falling. Concurrently, the proportion of people originally trained in other branches of industry but now employed in the skilled crafts is rising. This article compares the training and employment profiles and the incomes of journeymen qualified in the skilled crafts with those of externally trained skilled workers, with a view to clarifying the consequences of external recruitment strategies as used by skilled crafts businesses.
As far as many young people are concerned, Swedish vocational education and training in automation is a well-kept secret. Working in the industry is not regarded as attractive either by the youngsters themselves or by their parents. The gap between the skills needs of Swedish industry and the students‘ competence level remains wide. The municipality of Kungsbacka in Sweden has attempted to bridge this gap by working with ECVET1 in the EURIAC project.