Regional comparison of labour market opportunities for people with vocational and academic qualifications

Which qualifications will be in demand in the labour market in future – vocational or academic? And where will shortages potentially occur? The article presents findings of the first region-specific BIBB-IAB Qualification and Occupational Field Projections (QuBe project). The analyses show that the labour market situation can range from large shortages to large surpluses of skilled workers in conjunction with the regional demographic trend and economic structure. According to the projections, shortages of skilled-worker trainees will occur in almost all regions, particularly for the mid-level initial vocational qualifications, albeit with varying consequences.