Print version Recommend this page Press release
33/ 2009
Bonn, 24.9.2009
Unfilled training places - Why enterprises do not succeed in filling them
This phenomenon is not a new one: Every year large numbers of training places remain vacant - despite strong demand from young training place seekers. The share of firms with unfilled training places fluctuates between 10 and 20 per cent - and is on the rise in some cases. How can the discrepancy between strong demand from young people on the one hand and the difficulties enterprises have filling their training places on the other be explained? And, even more importantly, how can it be eliminated? Firms usually cite insufficient capability and a lack of motivation on the part of young applicants as reasons for being unable to find suitable applicants. But is this an adequate explanation? In a survey of more than 1,000 enterprises, the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) found that reasons why training places remain unfilled can also be found among enterprises - in other words, among the providers of training places.
According to the BIBB survey, one out of every seven enterprises that are willing to provide in-company vocational training reported that it was unable to fill the training places it had on offer. Small and medium-sized enterprises in particular had problems filling their training places. A breakdown by sector shows that this problem is especially to be found in the transport, storage and communication sector, hotels and restaurants, and 'other service activities' such as washing and cleaning of textile products, hairdressing, and sewage and refuse disposal. Further, enterprises in Germany's eastern states have greater difficulties filling their training places than their counterparts in the country's western states do.
The findings from the BIBB Vocational Training Monitor surveys make it clear that enterprises can also actively influence whether their training places can be filled or not. According to these findings - which have been published in the latest issue of BIBB REPORT - timely personnel planning can help significantly reduce the share of a company's training places that remain unfilled. Namely, the BIBB surveys show that enterprises that have difficulties filling their training places often start their search for suitable applicants at a relatively late point in time - in other words, shortly before the new training year is to begin. Additionally, enterprises that use a wide variety of placement channels can further reduce their chances of not being able to fill the training places they offer. Furthermore, very stringent requirements for applicants tend to give the impression that enterprises are looking for fully-qualified skilled workers rather than youths who are just entering the working world. And lastly, the question of how attractive a training place - or the particular sector - is also plays an important role in whether a training place can be filled.
The BIBB survey shows that recruitment strategies as well as application strategies must be improved in order to optimise the information that is available on vacant training places and young training place seekers. To achieve this, all players in the vocational education and training field ought to work closely together. According to BIBB's analyses, specific points of departure for this include improving links between schools and industry, promoting lesser-known occupations, assisting enterprises with the applicant selection process and using a wider variety of recruitment channels. Changing the image of specific occupations on a lasting basis, making the content of individual occupations more attractive, and improving earnings potential could additionally make it easier for enterprises to find suitable trainees in the future.
Further information on the findings of this study is available in the latest BIBB REPORT "Unfilled training places - Why enterprises do not succeed in filling them. Findings from the BIBB Vocational Training Monitor survey" (Issue 10/09). This issue can be downloaded free of charge from the BIBB website at www.bibb.de/bibbreport .
Points of contact at BIBB for further information:
- Naomi Gericke, Tel.: +49 (0) 228 107-1131, E-mail: gericke@bibb.de
- Klaus Troltsch, Tel.: +49 (0) 228 107-1121, E-mail: troltsch@bibb.de
