Dual VET – more contracts, but recruitment problems increase

Demand for training places by young people and young adults and the number of training places offered by companies both rose once again in 2018. These positive developments meant that more training contracts were newly concluded than in the previous year (2017: 523,300, 2018: 531,400). Nevertheless, recruitment problems on the training market exacerbated further compared to the preceding years as 57,700 places remained vacant (2017: 49,000). The number of unfilled places as a proportion of total company-based provision also saw a further rise (2017: 8.8%, 2018: 10.0%). By way of contrast, there was a slight fall in the proportion of applicants still seeking a training place (2017: 13.3%, 2018: 12.9%). The balancing out of regional, qualifications-related and occupational differences appears to be increasingly more difficult. The above findings represent the main outcomes of the 2019 Data Report of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) which was adopted today by the German Federal Cabinet to supplement the 2019 Vocational Training Report.

The Data Report includes comprehensive information on and analyses of initial and continuing vocational education and training, provides a summary of Federal Government and federal state VET funding programmes and also covers international indicators and benchmarks. The special focus this year is “Vocational education and training 4.0 – skilled worker qualifications and competencies for the digitalised work of the future”.

The standard indicators and long time series used in the report have now become well established and are supplemented by more detailed analyses based on primary research. Examples include the 2018 Applicant Survey and the 2018 Forced Migration Study jointly conducted by BIBB and the Federal Employment Agency (BA) and the 2018 Labour Force Survey, which was designed by BIBB in conjunction with the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA). Whereas the BA/BIBB Applicant Survey and the BA/BIBB Forced Migration Survey shed light on the situation faced by young people at the transition to training, the data collected in the 2018 BIBB/BauA Labour Force Survey enables reports to be compiled on occupational success by qualification and gender and on the topic of “over and under qualified employment” of persons who have completed vocational education and training. As was the case in previous years, secondary statistical data sources are also used for the presentation of results. The analysis of young people’s transition processes into training contained within the Data Report is, for example, informed by data from the German Educational Panel Study (NEPS).

BIBB’s Director of Research Professor Hubert Ertl believes that the essential strength of the Data Report lies in the interplay between a standardised form of reporting based on time series and changing surveys that look at current developments and challenges. “The overall picture provided by the BIBB Data Report represents a central reference work on vocational education and training for the fields of academic research, policy and practice.”

A provisional version of the BIBB Data Report to accompany the 2019 Report on Vocational Education and Training can be downloaded free of charge from www.bibb.de/datenreport-2019 (German only). The print version is likely to be available from July onwards.

The Federal Government's 2019 Report on Vocational Education and Training can be accessed at https://www.bmbf.de/de/berufsbildungsbericht-2740.html (German only).

Specimen copy requested if printed.