In the Corona year 2020, fewer young people in Germany started an apprenticeship than ever since reunification. But there are big differences between the regions and industries.
The corona pandemic has also left deep marks on the training market. In the past year, so few people in Germany started an apprenticeship as they have not since reunification. According to preliminary calculations by the Federal Statistical Office, around 465,200 people in Germany signed a new training contract in dual vocational training in 2020. That was 9.4 percent less than the year before. Statisticians attribute the decline to the outbreak of the corona pandemic. Although the number of apprentices has tended to decline for years, the current slump is so far unique in its magnitude.
Stronger decline than in 2009
In fact, the decline is stronger than in 2009, when the total number of new contracts had shrunk by 7.6 percent in the wake of the financial crisis. In addition, the statisticians have not counted a lower number of new apprenticeship contracts since 1991, when the data from West and East Germany were combined for the first time. The President of the Central Association of German Crafts, Hans Peter Wollseifer, was concerned about the numbers: “Trainees who are not being trained now will be lacking as specialists in the future,” he told the German Press Agency. It is also noticeable that the number of new contracts in dual training has decreased more among women (by 10.2 percent) than among men (minus 8.9 percent). According to the statistics office, a good third of all new contracts were concluded by women and almost two thirds by men in 2020.
Burglary particularly strong in Hamburg
There are also clear differences when comparing countries. The number of new contracts is declining in all federal states, but the percentage of the decrease differs considerably in some cases. While the numbers fell the most in Hamburg (minus 13.5 percent) and Saarland (minus 12.4 percent), the decline was smallest in Brandenburg with minus 2.8 percent and in Saxony (minus 4.8 percent) . When looking at developments in the individual sectors, there are also major differences. While there was even a slight increase of 500 contracts in agriculture, the number fell in all other sectors, in some cases considerably. Industry and trade were particularly affected, where almost twelve percent fewer new training contracts were concluded. In the trades it was down by 6.6 percent. The statisticians explain the decline in trade with the fact that this area has suffered particularly from the pandemic because of the months-long restrictions with the closure of most shops. According to preliminary results, a total of around 1.289 million people were in dual vocational training as of December 31, 2020. Compared to 2019 (1.329 million), the number of trainees is also down.
You must log in to post a comment.