Vocational Education and Training

Every year Germany’s dual system of vocational training offers around two thirds of all school-leavers the prospect of learning one of some 350 trades. Currently, just under 1.6 m trainees in nearly 500,000 businesses are taking advantage of this offer. Combining practical training at work with continued education at a vocational school, the dual system enables young people in Germany to be integrated into the workforce relatively successfully, as the low level of youth unemployment relative to other countries shows.

Progress to Date and Companies’ Ongoing Need for Modernisation and Support

Regina Flake / David B. Meinhard / Dirk Werner ·
IW-Trends No. 2 ·
23 April 2019

Digitalisation in Dual Vocational Training

This paper analyses the impact of the digital transformation on training activities in German enterprises.

Sigrid Schöpper-Grabe / Isabel Vahlhaus ·
IW-Trends No. 1 ·
14 March 2019

Basic and Continuing Education for the Low-skilled: Results of a Survey of Companies by the German Economic Institute

Corporate personnel development is increasingly recognising the training needs of employees without vocational qualifications: 89 per cent of companies that employ low-skilled workers have offered at least one further training course for this target group in the last five years.

Susanne Seyda / Luisa Wallosek / Michael Zibrowius ·
IW-Trends No. 2 ·
22 June 2018

An Index Measuring Low-skilled Jobs: Low-skilled Work in Germany

The present article examines how the extent and importance of low-skilled work has developed over a period of skill-biased technological change.

Regina Flake / Svenja Jambo / Markus Körbel / Susanne Seyda / Daniel Wörndl / Michael Zibrowius ·
Expertise ·
19 June 2018

Promoting Social Partnership in Employee Training

In the wake of global trends like the digitalisation of the economy, employees are faced not only with higher demands for competences but also with the requirement to continuously adapt and further develop their skills to maintain their employability. This study was conducted on behalf of the European social partners, ETUC, BusinessEurope, CEEP and UEAPME, with financial support of the European Commission.

Susanne Seyda / Luisa Wallossek / Michael Zibrowius ·
IW-Analyse No. 122 ·
15 May 2018

Factors influencing the Participation of Workers with no formal Qualifications in further Training

The present analysis examines the factors influencing the participation of workers with no formal qualifications in further training. Within this group, there has been an increase in the proportion of menial jobs, which correlates negatively with the probability of undergoing further training.

Yet there is no reason for us to rest on our laurels, as this transition is seldom seamless. The average age of those starting an apprenticeship is 19 years, with many school-leavers first having to complete a preparatory course. Companies are encountering increasing difficulties in finding suitable applicants.

Additionally, there is a need for improvement at the interfaces between vocational training, further training and tertiary education. Too often skills which have already been acquired are not recognised. Moreover, the traditional German belief in apprenticeships does not extend to further training. Companies are setting a good example in this respect, investing an average of over a thousand euros a year on the further training of their employees. However, the challenges of demographic change and technological progress mean that such measures will have to be expanded and vocational training systematically developed if the economy is not to run out of skilled workers.