Marketing in Germany

Marketing and awareness-raising campaigns for apprenticeships are run throughout the year. Many stakeholders at all levels are involved in numerous activities to enhance the attractiveness of dual VET – for young people and companies.

Examples of measures

Single private and public organisations carry out recruiting campaigns using daily press and advertising campaigns in businesses. Chambers of commerce and industry, chambers of crafts as well as major organisations for craftsman such as the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts carry out awareness-raising campaigns using social media, and they design support for their members through traditional media platforms to attract young persons to apprenticeships. The Federal Government also developed a major VET campaign “Vocational training – practically unbeatable” across different media. Large events such as the World Skills competition in 2013 in Germany are widely advertised in mass media. General and professional schools are cooperating with companies to introduce training occupations to pupils and by offering guidance and orientation. The introduction of the legally protected new titles “Bachelor Professional” and “Master Professional” for advanced training occupations at levels 6 and 7 of the German Qualification Frameworks is also aimed at fostering the attractiveness of VET.

Initiative “Graduation and continuation – Educational chains up to the vocational training qualification”

One major aspect of VET attractiveness is to ensure that learning pathways lead to a full qualification. The Federal initiative “Educational Chains” (2010–2014; budget 460 million euros) focuses on preventive and all-encompassing activities to ensure educational success to young persons and progressive integration of these activities into a coherent infrastructure by Federal and Federal States stakeholders. This initiative encompasses different programmes to support the image of apprenticeships in society and to improve guidance. The programmes are for instance

• the specific programme “Educational Chains” (Bildungsketten);
• the structural VET programme focusing on apprenticeship in SME (JOBSTARTER)(Ausbildungsmanagement, Digitalisierung KMU - BMBF Jobstarter), and
• Promoting Excellence. Strengthen vocational education and training. Increase the attractiveness, quality and equivalence of vocational education and initiate new learning location cooperations: These are the goals of InnoVET-Programme: Startseite - BMBF InnoVET (inno-vet.de)

Higher education dropout: Start - BMBF Studienabbruch – und dann? (studienabbruch-und-dann.de). Due to the federal structure of the VET system, the Federal Government makes agreements with its partners in the Federal States to implement the initiative. This initiative is continued within the framework of the “Alliance for Initial and Further Training” (2019–2021).

Mutualising resources of all VET stakeholders

Under the “Alliance for Initial and Further Training” (2015–2018), which was launched in 2014, all major stakeholders of the German VET system – the business community, the unions, the Federal Government and the Federal States – join forces to support the development and attractiveness of apprenticeship. A major objective is “to clearly enhance the significance and attractiveness of vocational training in Germany”.