Crisis in the training market Where the trainees are most absent

Status: 08.06.2021 2:09 p.m.

Much fewer apprenticeships, far fewer applicants – Corona has massively thinned the training market. What alarms experts: Professions in which there is already a shortage of skilled workers are severely affected. From Philipp Reichert, SWR Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, significantly fewer training positions have been offered than before. This is shown by figures from the Federal Employment Agency SWR has evaluated. According to this, companies across Germany reported only around 430,000 apprenticeship positions from October 2020 to the end of April, i.e. after more than half of the current application year. That is around 60,000 fewer than in the same period of 2018/2019, i.e. before the pandemic. This means that by the end of April, around every eighth training position in the country was no longer offered. The number of applicants also fell significantly in the same period: from around 418,000 to 345,000 – a decrease of around 18 percent.

The healthcare and hospitality industries are particularly hard hit

Accordingly, there were particularly strong slumps in the tourism industry and in the hotel and restaurant sector. By the end of April, an average of every third apprenticeship position was no longer offered compared to 2019. But also in large occupational groups in the craft, for example in food production, the metal industry and in some technical professions, thousands fewer training positions were reported. The SWR -Data analysis shows that all federal states are affected by the development – albeit to different degrees.

Young people feel insecure

The Federal Employment Agency attributes the decline in training places and applicants primarily to the Corona crisis. “This mainly reflects the pandemic restrictions and the associated economic uncertainties,” it says SWR -Inquiry. Young people are also unsettled because personal consultations were more difficult in the pandemic and, for example, training fairs were canceled. “We also suspect that some of the young people are withdrawing from the dual training market in the current situation and switching from the outset to alternatives such as further schooling or possibly studying,” says the Federal Employment Agency. In addition to the corona crisis, changes in the labor market, for example in the automotive and supplier industry, as well as demographic change have contributed to the development.

Can the gap still be closed?

For labor market experts like Stefan Sell from the Koblenz University of Applied Sciences, the development is alarming. “These are extremely strong slumps, they are extraordinarily high.” Sell ​​therefore fears long-term consequences if fewer young people start an apprenticeship in the fall of the new training year. “Losses of this magnitude could never be made up again.” Past crises would have shown that. “Unfortunately, we have to expect that the level of apprenticeships will remain significantly lower overall than before the Corona crisis,” said Sell. From the labor market expert Sell’s point of view, it is particularly problematic that such occupational groups are also affected in which companies already need an above-average long time to fill vacancies. According to calculations by the Institute for Employment Research, for example, companies in the field of mechatronics and in some technical and health professions are looking for skilled workers for a particularly long time. “Even before Corona, we did not train enough in these professions,” says Sell.

Criticism of “small funding programs” by the government

The SWR data analysis shows: It is precisely in these occupational groups that there are now also significant drops in the number of applicants. At least one in ten applicants broke away there compared to the time before Corona. Labor market expert Sell sees the significant drop in applicants in the professions with a shortage of skilled workers extremely critical. “In some of these areas, such as the health professions, we will run into significant shortages,” said Sell. The responsible Federal Ministry of Education divided up SWR request with, you take the decline in the training market very seriously. That is why a program to secure training positions was decided last summer, which for example provides training and employment bonuses as well as grants for training and trainer remuneration. 700 million euros are earmarked for this and the coming year. Sell, however, criticizes that the program is insufficient to cushion the decline in the training market. “This is a small funding program, one should have set clearer signals.” The program was also too late and too complicated for companies.

From Gisela Staiger, BR The corona pandemic has made it difficult for many refugees to gain a foothold in the labor market. A current study by the Nuremberg Institute for Employment Research (IAB) shows the reasons and reveals the dimensions of the problem: A comparison of December 2019 and 2020 shows that unemployment in the population as a whole rose by just one percentage point within one year . By contrast, unemployment among refugees rose by 2.7 percentage points.

Lockdown makes career entry difficult

Mariam Alashkar is one of those who suffered. The Syrian is a single parent and is looking for an apprenticeship in the medical field. In February 2020, the mother of a four-year-old daughter successfully completed her language course at B2 level. But the time shortly before the first lockdown was extremely bad for starting a career. She writes two applications a week, says Alashkar. The yield is sobering: So far, no one has responded to their letters. In her home country, the 33-year-old first worked in tourism, then as a journalist for a Syrian television station. Now she is further deepening her language skills in order to be fit for the German job market. But their path is still rocky. “I’m ambitious, I had a lot of dreams in Germany,” she says. “I thought: If I finish B2, I’ll find a job straight away, but then Corona came and destroyed everything I had planned.”

IAB study: stopping language courses jointly responsible

According to the IAB study, the pandemic-related suspension of language courses and qualifications in particular led to an above-average increase in unemployment among refugees. According to IAB migration expert Herbert Brücker, the institute had expected that without the pandemic, the employment rate of refugees would have risen by five to eight percentage points in 2020. In reality, however, the rate only increased by one percentage point. “In this respect, one can say that integration has been interrupted. This applies to both the training and the job market,” says Brücker.

Expert: The more time goes by, the worse it gets

For Brücker, Alashkar is a typical example of the current phenomenon among refugees in Germany: “This is precisely the group of people who would have had a very good chance of entering the job market in 2020 or 2021. And these opportunities were able to materialize through the Do not realize the pandemic. ” The longer people have to wait, the greater the risk that motivation and related qualifications such as language skills can be lost. And that makes the subsequent labor market integration more difficult. “In this respect, the pandemic is a particularly tragic event for the refugees.” Alashkar has been moving into Hartz IV for almost a year and a half. The Syrian hopes that the easing will also increase her chances. She has a childcare place for her daughter and could get started at any time. If there was an answer to your applications.

Karin Senz, ARD studio Istanbul There’s a lot going on in the large square in front of Istanbul’s Bazaar district, but not nearly as much as before the pandemic: a few Arab tourists and locals stock up on their fasts or just sit in the sun. Ali stands at his little oil press and waits in vain for customers. He usually works seven days a week and gets around 3,000 lira, that’s a little more than 300 euros. With that he can just make ends meet. But now it’s lockdown on the weekend. “That’s why I only work five days a week and get 100 lira a day, which makes about 2000 lira a month,” says Ali. “That’s not enough to support my family. But what should I do? We have all got used to these circumstances.”

No protection from state social security

He does not get compensation from the state, which ordered the lockdown. “In Turkey it is very common that you do not work in small companies, for example in restaurants, small hotels or workshops,” says Istanbul economist Baris Soydan. An estimated 30 percent of workers are not registered – and thus without social and unemployment insurance, like Ali. The Turkish media reported that around 2.5 million permanent workers were sent on unpaid leave by their bosses. The state pays them around 1000 lira a month, a good 100 euros. Mücke is sitting a few doors down behind the counter in her little shop. It’s full of Turkish sweets – but not a single customer can be seen. “Before the pandemic, we had two shops, one more straight down the street,” she says. “We had to close it, the shutters are down. At the moment we’re trying to stay afloat with this shop.”

Terminations despite the ban

The 40-year-old could have applied for a rent subsidy, around 100 euros. But that wouldn’t matter with the high rent she has to pay here in the tourist district, she says. That is why she did not even apply for the grant: “We get state support for the insurance contributions of the employees. And there are reductions and deferrals for income tax. But that’s it.” Mücke has five employees. She has not cut their salaries, she says – although the working hours are significantly shorter from the early evening due to the weekend lockdown and curfews. “We were able to claim short-time work allowance for two months. It was said that it would be extended to June. But then they ended it. That is over.” Actually, the state has banned firing workers during the pandemic. According to the Turkish statistical office, around 250,000 people lost their jobs in February alone.

No rate cut

Turkey only went into a complete lockdown a year ago, which then lasted almost three months. Since then, the shops have remained largely open. Restaurants, cafes and bars are closed from time to time, as they are now during Ramadan. “Last year, in 2020, the economy in Turkey grew by 1.8 percent. In Germany, for example, it shrank,” says economic expert Soydan. “From a purely macroeconomic perspective, things went okay here, but not for the population.” Inflation is currently over 16 percent. That is also why many Turks looked to the decision of the new head of the central bank, Sahap Kavcioglou, on Thursday. The central bank did not comply with President Erdogan’s request to lower the key interest rate. Expert Soydan warns of another sticking point: the upcoming holiday season. “It could be that this year there are not many tourists from Germany or Russia,” he says. “If that were the case, significantly fewer foreign currencies – that is, euros and dollars – would enter Turkey.” And this is what the country needs – especially now in the pandemic. And the waiters, maids, bartenders, and entertainment staff need the jobs. At the moment, however, Turkey is struggling with record levels of around 60,000 new infections per day. Many people find it difficult to think of a successful holiday season.

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.