Societal and technological change is shortening the half-life period of knowledge and competencies. At the same time, working lifetimes are becoming longer. How can companies support and foster the further professional and personal development of their employees? This issue of BWP looks at the career opportunities available to skilled workers with vocational qualifications and focuses in particular on models and concepts in SMEs.
BIBB has had a new Head of Research in place since 1 September. Prof. Dr. HUBERT ERTL, Associate Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Education at University of Oxford, is making the move to Bonn to provide new ideas on how research at BIBB can be developed further. Just before he took up his new position, BWP had the opportunity to conduct a brief interview.
Calls for greater levels of investment in education are more frequent, especially during election campaigning. Nevertheless, spending on education in Germany stubbornly remains at a below-average level in international comparative terms. A research project carried out by the University of Konstanz has investigated just how robust public support for more educational spending is.
Continuing training has gained in significance over recent years as labour markets undergo dynamic development and technologisation continues apace. This is also reflected in an increasing commitment to continuing training on the part of companies. There is, however, a difference in the continuing training activities undertaken by companies of different size categories. This article investigates the extent to which small and medium-sized companies have contributed to the rise in continuing training that has taken place across the economy and looks at the nature of the continuing training opportunities offered to the employees of such firms. This is a critical issue because participation in continuing training is an important means of further professional development and represents a significant way of securing or enhancing individual employment and income opportunities.
Increasing digitalisation is playing an important role for SMEs as well as large enterprises. The way of working is changing, and task demands for employees are growing. How are companies attempting to meet these rising requirements? Are new staff being recruited, or are new career opportunities opening up for existing workers? This article investigates these questions using data from the BIBB Training Panel as a basis.
Companies require a well-qualified workforce in order to remain competitive. However, recruitment problems are becoming particularly more prevalent in the case of skilled workers with advanced training qualifications. One of the reasons for this is the supposedly more attractive career prospects that graduates enjoy, a factor which is drawing more and more young people towards higher education study. The article uses selected characteristics to undertake a comparison of both qualifications levels from a company point of view. It also describes approaches via which companies may support employees with regard to advanced vocational training.
Christine Fournier; Marion Lambert; Isabelle Marion-Vernoux
Most employers take the view that employees tend to acquire competencies in the work process rather than via organised continuing training. “Defis”, a programme which aids research into participation in continuing training and the professional development of staff, provides evidence that employees who are integrated into work processes that are conducive to learning are also most likely to have access to organised continuing training. This is an aspect that can be particularly identified in the case of employees who perform unskilled and semi-skilled tasks.
What is the future viability of initial and continuing VET in the light of increasing academisation? How are company career pathways structured, and what is the status of advanced VET programmes from a company point of view? The results of a research project conducted by the Distance Learning University in Hagen provide evidence that academic programmes are squeezing out dual VET in some instances despite the great esteem which companies express for the latter. At the same time, however, trends indicating a strengthening of VET are also discernible. The article investigates this in greater detail by looking at an example from the retail sector.
Virtually no other branch is older, more colourful or more international than the restaurant trade, and this diversity is also reflected in the employment histories of those who work in it. These are frequently characterised by several changes of employer and by moves from place to place or from country to country. Various indicators suggest that a model of internal company employment histories is being established alongside this traditional “nomadic” model. This article uses the occupation of restaurant specialist as an example in order to show what is behind this development and how human resources managers are thinking about.
Small and medium-sized companies often need assistance as they compete to secure the services of the best talents. How can I acquire suitable applicants to my company by presenting myself as an attractive provider of training? The Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s JOBSTARTER plus programme assists SMEs with this process. The article presents two instruments which tackle this issue within the scope of external training management.
Marcel Randermann; Thanh Thuy Nguyen; Roland Jochem
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often face particular challenges in continuing training management because of the limited resources at their disposal. As part of a research project carried out by the Quality Science Institute at the Technical University of Berlin, an algorithm-based instrument was developed to facilitate enhanced choice of continuing training measures for learners. The article presents this prototype instrument as well as describing and reflecting upon the possible opportunities it provides.
In 2012, Evonik Technology & Infrastructure GmbH instigated a »Young Professional Programme« to support the development of young skilled workers in the company. The aims are to foster up-and-coming talent and to secure the long-term loyalty of these employees. This article presents the background to the programme, its overall objectives and design concept and the initial experiences gleaned from implementation.
More than two years have passed since the rules governing special leave to remain in Germany for immigrants pursuing training were reformed by the Integration Act of 31 July 2015. Although previous provision was significantly expanded via the introduction of the so-called “3+2 solution”, criticism is still being levelled by policy makers, trade and industry and society as a whole. One of the reasons for this is the wide-ranging uncertainty which exists regarding the scope of this form of special leave to remain and the prerequisites that apply. This article highlights the current issues whilst taking account of the latest administrative provisions enacted by the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) [Bundesministerium des Innern] on 30 May 2017.
Young people’s parents are significant sources of vocational orientation advice. But do parents feel that they themselves are well informed? In a questionnaire of parents of school pupils in Rhineland Palatinate, many respondents took the chance to describe their own needs and to put forward ideas for how vocational orientation and higher education study guidance could be improved. This article presents selected results.
The Law for Reform of the Nursing Professions has brought together the three vocational nurse training programmes that previously existed together under a single Nursing Act. At the same time, graduate level nurse training has also been enshrined in law. What is new? When does the new nursing training start and which tasks will be assumed by BIBB within this context? This article informs readers about the latest state of affairs and outlines the most important structural and content changes.
Framework regulations for the uniform structuring of specialist practitioner training programmes pursuant to § 66 Vocational Training Act (BBiG) and § 42m of the Crafts and Trades Regulation Code (HwO) have been in place since 2010. A study conducted by BIBB has delivered the first findings regarding how these training regulations affect people with a disability. This article presents selected results on awareness and on the subsequent opportunities for employment from the point of view of companies providing training.