The journal reports on research findings and practical experience with issues from vocational education and training, thus fostering an exchange between education research, day-to-day education practice and education policy.
Current issue
Labour market and vocational education and training (BWP 3/2024)
The labour market in Germany is constituted along the lines of regulated occupations, and this means that its relationship with vocational education and training plays a key role. This interaction is facing considerable challenges in times of societal transformation (digitalisation, decarbonisation, deglobalisation). How can VET be structured in a way which enables it to keep pace with the speed of the transformation and to take account of training requirements specific to sectors and regions? An assessment must also be made as to which competencies need to be imparted so that trainees and employees have good prospects of successful integration into working life and of societal participation. How can VET open up points of access in this regard and how can it offer attractive professional development pathways?
The labour market and the VET system are characterised by a series of contrary developments. This article focuses on the most important factors in this regard. Following an overview of the main challenges and of current trends, it outlines developments on the labour market and training market and presents the ensuing changes for companies. The authors suggest as two possible solutions the improvement of vocational orientation which supports more young people along the route into VET as well as reforms to initial VET which can help increase the speed of adjustment.
Demographic developments, digitalisation and ecologisation will all exert a substantial influence on the world of work over the coming years. Suitable taxonomies permit the identification of occupational fields in which these challenges are becoming clearly apparent and in which they may be reinforcing one another. These are presented in the article.
Interaction between the labour market and vocational education and training is not running smoothly at present. Companies are increasingly complaining that they are unable to fill their training vacancies. At the same time, the Federal Employment Agency is continuing to report that a large number of young people are failing to find a training place. This varies according to sector and region. In general terms, however, it is possible to state that almost no training is any longer being provided by the smallest category of companies in the craft trades sector. Company-based training also plays virtually no role at start-ups, which are highly prevalent in the booming technology sector in particular. Kerstin Josupeit-Metzner is Head of the Berlin-based project “Cooperative Guidance Services for Dual VET”. Together with her team, she has taken up the cause of encouraging small and innovative firms in particular to become involved VET and thus open up prospects for both sides – companies and trainees.
The labour market in the east of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is facing challenges which are being exacerbated by demographic developments and structural changes. These developments are not new. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Neubrandenburg recognised the strategic significance of second-chance training for semi-skilled and unskilled employees back in 2013. There has been an improvement in the quick placement of workers since this time, and new pathways for employee training have also been found.
Nachwuchsgruppe Regionale (Infra-)Struktur und Segmentierungsprozesse in der Ausbildung (RISA)
This article looks at the correlation between region and training. It highlights that not all characteristics of a region are equally important when it comes to explaining what influences the training preferences and opportunities of young people. On the other hand, it also points out that regional characteristics are not equally important for all young people and that the impact of such characteristics varies depending on sociodemographic circumstances or personal attributes. The aim of the article is to raise awareness amongst researchers and practitioners of this selective significance of regional characteristics for training preferences and opportunities with a view to using target group-specific (advisory) services to meet the challenges on the training market.
Working from home is a model which is increasing in significance on the German labour market. What does this mean for employee working conditions and requirements? This article addresses the issue on the basis of data from the 2018 BIBB/BAuA Labour Force Survey. It shows the extent to which employees who work from home are receiving greater autonomy but facing greater difficulties in switching off from work.
Technological change has led to increased productivity and greater prosperity over recent decades. It is also considered to be a driver of inequality. However, a new study shows that digitalisation in Germany in the 1990s did not increase social inequality across all aspects. Technological progress lowered the influence of parental background on wages and in this regard improved equality in working life. This especially applies to employees who achieved an upper secondary school-leaving certificate.
IT skills are among the key competencies needed to meet the (future) challenges of the world of work. While there is a consensus on the importance of IT skills, robust empirical analyses of their diffusion remain scarce. Based on the 2024 BIBB/BAuA Employment Survey, this article shows which IT skills are currently required in the workplace and how the IT skill requirements differ depending on the job’s level of complexity.
A broadly based monitoring system at local government level plays an important part in the identification of skilled worker and training requirements. Against the background of local government-aligned funding programmes of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), this article describes the new National Office for “Securing a Skilled Workforce/Education and Training Structural Shift” (FaBiS) and explains how it is established within the specialist network of the Local Government Education Management Transfer Initiative.
The Europass is a free service provided by the EU for applications, job searches and the documentation of competencies. It is an instrument that offers various tools to support young people in Europe when it comes to evaluating and presenting their own skills and qualifications. The Europass uses data models and taxonomies which have an effect on the education systems themselves. This article outlines the development of the Europass. It also explains the individual components and forecasts future developments.
The federal states are launching new training models for nursery school teachers in order to counter the shortage of skilled staff in early years education. A practically integrated training programme, in which participants receive remuneration throughout, was created in Baden-Württemberg in 2012 to supplement school-based training. The article presents the results of a study which were acquired on the basis of new data from an online survey of persons completing training at five colleges of social education. The object of the investigation is whether additional target groups for early education have been reached and whether these remain in the occupational field.
This article describes the healthcare, education and social occupations on the basis of three characteristics which indicate the requirements, the societal esteem and the gratification of these training occupations. In order to allow a better classification, they are compared with occupational characteristics of dual training occupations.
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has been monitoring the learning of adults since 1979. It has now continued this process with a study entitled “Continuing training behaviour in Germany in 2022”, which was published in March 2024. This article provides a summary of national trends on the basis of the selected indicators of continuing training rate and intensity and benefit of continuing training activities. It concludes by examining regional data from the additional survey for Saxony.
The extended final or journeyman examination was first piloted as an alternative examination model just over 20 years ago. This article investigates the question of what proportion of training occupations modernised over the past 20 years is using this model and also looks at how occupations featuring the extended final or journeyman examination are distributed across the individual areas of responsibility and occupational areas.
Technical product designers conceptualise and develop data models, constructions, 3D models and components for everything from electric toothbrushes to mechanical diggers. This ensures that ideas and stipulations for products and machines can also be implemented. This profile presents tasks undertaken in both specialisms and figures relating to the occupation.
The spring and summer Board Meetings took place under chairmanship of Elke Hannack, representative of the employees. One particular object of debate was the current training place situation in light of the annual consultations which take place in respect of the Federal Government’s Report on Vocational Education and Training. Further topics addressed were the Board’s perception of its own role, residential accommodation for trainees, and the Vocational Education and Training Validation and Digitalisation Act (BVaDiG).
