Companies' perception of the problem and options for addressing it
The views of sector and company representatives as expressed in the interviews shed some interesting light on the research rationales mentioned in the introduction. Without wishing to pre-empt particular findings, the following analysis is prefaced with the remark that, judging from the responses of the experts questioned, the trend towards more academically qualified staff and the possibility of repercussions for skilled workers with vocational qualifications is a non-issue; in contrast, the crucial question for the experts is how they can use a company-based socialisation strategy to develop qualified skilled workers from the very start, and to retain them in the medium to long term. The requisite competence profiles call for a combination of demanding standards of specialised systematic knowledge and understanding, along with strong experience-based knowledge and practical know-how relevant to the given occupation.
UPGRADING REQUIREMENTS AND MORE COMPLEX COMPETENCE DEMANDS IN ALL JOB AREAS
Those interviewed discuss the need to develop extended competences, which they bundle - for the most part separately from the required occupation-specific skills - into a range of "generic" competences or key qualifications for the workplace. While process- and customer-orientation and the associated communication skills as well as systematic thinking and the ability for self-organisation are expected at almost all levels of work, the job profiles that are filled with university graduates are associated with heightened requirements. Some of those cited are greater systematic knowledge and meta-cognitive competences as well as management skills. The requirements upon employees seem to be rising at all levels in equal measure. In their responses, there is no discernible indication that work profiles are being carved up to create scaled-down roles for the low qualified, on the one hand, and more demanding work profiles for the highly qualified, on the other. In fact, in certain areas where many older unskilled workers are employed - such as the transport industry, for example - companies seem to be systematically endeavouring to replace them with vocationally qualified staff as they retire. In the view of one company representative, the still very new occupation of the "Skilled Transport Employee" offers ideal conditions for future drivers to gain such a broad qualification from the outset that it will not only avert the known problem of incapacity for driving work after 25 years of service, but will at the same time impart the team- and service-orientation that is increasingly demanded in all workplaces nowadays. Because of their hybrid qualification, it will also be possible to deploy these employees in sales, public relations and vehicle servicing roles; in this way they are responding effectively to the massive shift in roles within the sector.
Since the image of the sector is not rated as very appealing, all the more is invested in high-quality IVET and CVET in order to retain people within the company and assure them of long-term prospects. Across all the sectors, in-company IVET is functioning as an important retention strategy from the very outset.
"We have already learned that if the right foundations are laid early on, something akin to - a sense of community grows, and the bond with the company is certainly deeper than for external recruits." (Medium-sized transport company)
Apart from this, companies appreciate the ability to exert an influence on "what the young people learn", whereas they criticise purely university-based training programmes for their lack of relevance to practice.
"And that's what we criticise about university to some extent, that it's often too theory-laden and simply lacks this practical relevance. We have high drop-out rates there as well. But in our apprenticeship training, I can steer things very firmly myself." (Mechanical engineering sector)
INITIAL VOCATIONAL TRAINING AS A FOUNDATION
In general, as the above example from the transport industry shows, those surveyed advocated a type of IVET that is not too rigid in its content but imparts a solid foundation in the specialist domain of the company's core business. In particular, the flexibility resulting from a broad occupational profile enables companies to bolt on the required specialisations successively as the need arises, while at the same time giving young people time to identify their own personal preferences more precisely before they join the firm permanently as skilled workers.
"We don't know what the year 2040 will bring, any more than people in 1980 knew the PC would be such a big deal. We can't show today's trainees the technology of the future, because we don't know what that will be. What we do know is that when they have to master the technology of 2040, a solid grounding in electro-technical skills will be important. And that's why we lay a relatively deep, solid, heavy-duty foundation - to build on." (Large company, energy sector)
INTERNAL PROGRESSION FOR MASTER CRAFTSMEN; BACHELORS AS NEW EXTERNAL COMPETITORS TO TECHNICIANS
In the industrial-technical sector, companies reap the benefits of their highly qualified skilled workers, many of whom will stick with tradition by following up their journeyman's certificate, sooner or later, with a Master Craftsman's or Technician's examination, even if there is no immediate prospect of a job at the appropriate level. Master Craftsman positions are usually filled internally, for this function is closely dependent on precise knowledge of the company's internal procedures and products and specific leadership competencies within the team. Technicians, on the other hand, could possibly find themselves in competition with holders of the new Bachelor degrees because of the nature of their work, which predominantly consists of theoretical and planning tasks.
"Yes, there is a typical field of work for Bachelors, which is planning. Planning networks, [.] that's where I see a possibility that more Bachelors could also be employed rather than the Technicians of the past, who actually had their own self-chosen niche there, partly because it fitted their interests quite well. In sections of the company where the key issues are staff leadership, staff deployment, planning of practical works and projects in general, the Master Craftsman will continue to have good opportunities in future and scope for development." (Energy company)
VOCATIONAL AND ACADEMIC TRACKS AS SEPARATE BUT COMPLEMENTARY EDUCATIONAL PATHWAYS
The interviewees' responses make it clear that nuanced assessments regarding the qualification demands for the different job levels and fields already exist within companies, and they care about deploying their staff appropriately. Apart from achieving an efficient distribution of salary grades, they very much seek to offer employees the right degree of personal challenge. In order to have a good "qualification mix that addresses the mix of competence requirements", in the words of a spokesman from the IT sector, companies pragmatically pick and choose from the full range of qualifications on offer, be they vocational or academic, and "scale" these individually for the given field of work. A personnel development spokesman from a medium-sized mechanical engineering company also refers to the mix of dual system initial vocational training, trainee programmes, degrees from universities and universities of applied science as a "smorgasbord, the way we take people and internally place them where we want them".
EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT CONFINED TO EXCEPTIONAL CASES AND GRADUATES
The larger and older the companies in traditional sectors such as transport, energy, metal and electrical, the more likely they are to have a repertoire of established advancement routes built around vocational qualifications. To fill skilled-worker and skilled-clerk positions, they draw exclusively from their own staff body. External recruitment is only used to attract university graduates. This applies particularly to engineers, although even here efforts are made to develop them from in-house staff if possible, for external candidates are associated with a comparatively high risk of misappointment. Moreover, it is highly desirable to have a certain percentage of graduates on the staff as "lateral thinkers" from an external background.
"That is how we add the spice, if I can call it that, to our own dual study courses, by taking candidates from technical universities; what we say about them is, we need lateral thinkers, who haven't previously been cultivated [within the firm], but have lots of work placements and experience from other firms." (Large company, energy sector)
"More and more, we're finding it's a 50:50 chance whether an external recruit will or won't work out, in whatever function. Any external appointment carries a certain degree of risk, which is why we do a great deal of development internally - from the managing director to operational managers or field technicians coming up through our junior service-engineer programme, or let's say, the fitters in the factory starting from our own apprenticeships. The internal route is very, very important for us." (Mechanical engineering company)
A similar situation prevails even for companies in newer industries such as the call-centre industry, where similar structures as in long established sectors are taking shape: these days, management positions are almost exclusively filled by staff promoted from the company's own ranks. Two sector-specific training occupations have already been established, even if the sector continues to profit from the high educational status of many external entrants who have acquired their qualifications in other vocational fields.
DUAL STUDY COURSES WELCOMED AS A TAILORED ALTERNATIVE IN THE CENTRE GROUND
Generally a great interest is noted in dual courses of study and any associated cooperation with universities. The responses of those surveyed suggest that a new type of educational course is emerging which precisely meets the need for heightened qualification requirements whilst maintaining the desired contact with company practice. Dual study courses are assessed very positively because they combine theory and practice and also convey the necessary theoretical know-how for the management of technological progress. There is no perceived danger of a gradual displacement of staff with conventional dual-system qualifications. Instead, the new provision is welcomed as an answer to "the previous lack of differentiation among university graduates" (IT sector).
"Apprentices and dual students or graduates are always complementary. We envision ourselves as a fully rounded company and ultimately we aspire to have well-qualified staff at all levels. So for us there is not going to be one particular emphasis anywhere [.], but really we see them as paths of equal importance and status, running side by side." (Large company, electrical sector)
