Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)

Content

• Types of traineeships in Europe 
• Traineeships in the open labour market
• Traineeships in vocational training
• Functions of traineeships in Europe
• Apprenticeships, alternance, traineeships - Outlooks for Europe
• References

Types of traineeships in Europe

Traineeships can be observed in Europe in a wide variety of forms and contexts. A study conducted by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES, Great Britain), and in which BIBB participated, identified for all EU Member States five types of traineeships which are intended to help individuals make a successful transition to the labour market:

• Traineeships which are part of an academic or vocational curriculum (e.g., internships during secondary or tertiary education); 
• Traineeships in the open labour market; in other words, voluntary traineeships;
• Traineeships as part of active labour market policies whose target group particularly includes unemployed young people; 
• Traineeships which form part of mandatory professional training (such as in the fields of medicine and law);
• Transnational traineeships.
  

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Traineeships in the open labour market

In recent years, traineeships in the open labour market have shown themselves to be particularly deficient in terms of their quality and benefits to trainees. This is especially the case when traineeships take place at the 'second threshold' 0 in other words, at the threshold marking the transition from training to employment. In the case of traineeships for university graduates, the general terms and conditions governing the work to be done during a traineeship are not regulated in many EU states. For this reason, elements such as pay, entitlement to leave and learning content are not clarified. As a result, this type of traineeship has often offered fertile ground for abuse and has been the subject of particular criticism. Trainees' working and/or learning conditions vary greatly between countries and often vary even within a country between sectors or employers. Sectors in which particularly large numbers of traineeships are conducted in the open labour market include the creative industries, media and the hospitality industry.

In order to counter abuse, some governments have been working for several years now to improve the protection of trainees and increase the quality of traineeships through legal regulations, programmes and even voluntary charters. There are many different approaches to this.  However an enormous need for action can still be observed throughout Europe in connection with traineeships on the open labour market.

In Germany as well, criticism of traineeships is aimed first and foremost at the precarious employment of university graduates and has been brought forward by trade unions in particular in several studies (e.g. Grün/Hecht 2010). It is also shared in part by an HIS study. This criticism points out that in the case of some traineeships, it appears that their sole purpose is to exploit the trainee as cheap labour. However, university graduates in traineeships are by no means a mass phenomenon and there is little justification for the term 'Generation Praktikum' (generation of perpetual trainees) (see Briedis/Minks 2007, p. 10).

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Traineeships in vocational training

In contrast to this, traineeships that are part of academic or vocational curricula appear to be effective forms of traineeships. In all European countries, such traineeships are structured and are regulated to a certain degree. They are also observed to being linked to learning which helps increase the employability of young people. This underscores the importance of integrating practical elements into education programmes. Such traineeships are often an element in vocational training for qualifications that are assigned to levels 4 to 6 in the European Qualifications Framework. Typical examples of vocational training systems that integrate traineeships into their curricula are alternating forms of vocational education which can be found in The Netherlands, France and Finland.

In contrast to many European countries where traineeships are an integral part of vocational training, traineeships play a minor role in vocational training in Germany. This is due to Germany's 'dual' vocational training system which integrates practical work experience into training within the context of an in-company vocational training relationship (similar to employee status). By comparison, traineeships that are undertaken at the transition between secondary school and vocational training or between completion of vocational training and the start of employment are more relevant. A traineeship can particularly offer youths with poor grades an opportunity to prove practical skills and in doing so subsequently be accepted for a vocational training programme (e.g. Vocational Preparation Year).

An examination of the role played by traineeships following the end of dual or school-based vocational training compared to traineeships for university graduates reveals a differentiated picture. A study issued by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (see Fuchs 2008) shows the degree of dissemination of atypical forms of employment following completion of the individual's training. Besides traineeships, atypical employment includes temporary employment mediated by employment agencies, part-time employment, freelance work and fixed-term employment. According to the study, 32% of those persons who complete formal in-company vocational training begin formal employment directly after completing their training. This figure is 30% among university graduates. By contrast, only 17% of those persons who complete school-based vocational training succeed in making a smooth transition from training to employment. Thirty-five per cent of this group take up atypical employment following completion of their vocational training (in-company vocational training: 32%; university studies: 29%). In fact, 48% of persons who complete school-based vocational training accept two or more atypical jobs in order to get a regular job. This is the case for only 40% of university graduates and 36% of persons who complete in-company vocational training. The differences between university graduates and persons who complete formal in-company vocational training are even greater when only traineeships are considered. In this case only 16% of persons who complete in-company vocational training undergo a traineeship, compared to 24% of university graduates. This figure even rises to 31% among apprentices who are undergoing school-based vocational training. The fact that the share of trainees who have completed dual in-company vocational training is small suggests that the transition from vocational training to employment functions well for individuals who received their training through the dual vocational training system.

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Functions of traineeships in Europe

Compared to other types of training in Germany and in other European countries, dual vocational training leads to a good match between company requirements and training content and qualifications. This should be underscored here with a further figure. In many European countries, the number of youths who have a university education but hold jobs with a low or intermediate-level qualification level is greater than in Germany. For example, in Germany only 20% of young workers (ages 25 to 29) holding a university degree work in jobs which require a low or intermediate-level qualification level. This figure is 44% in Spain (OECD 2010). One of the reasons for this is that vocational training is not very attractive in Spain. Evidently in Spain university graduates are hired for operational jobs which in Germany would be filled with persons who have completed vocational training. The use of traineeships as a means of starting one's career is likely to play a role here as well. However traineeships have an entirely different function in Spain than in, for example, Germany. On the other hand, traineeships also play an important role in vocational training in Spain. Such traineeships last three to six months and are completed as part of the individual's training. In Spain only approximately one third of an age cohort opts for vocational training. Enterprises there signal that such traineeships are very important for their recruitment decision .²

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Apprenticeships, alternance, traineeships - Outlooks for Europe

A comparison with other European countries shows that traineeships are an essential instrument for ensuring that young people make the transition from the education system to the working world. However, traineeships have different functions in the individual Member States. From the enterprises' point of view, these functions include recruitment and training but also productive work and lower cost structures. From the individual's point of view, these functions range from vocational orientation all the way to training, as well as providing a direct means for demonstrating one's knowledge and skills to potential employers and being able to show work experience in one's curriculum vitae. The prime motive in this connection would be the search for employment.

In countries where legislative and regulatory conditions do not exist at all, the working conditions for traineeships are often poor, particularly in connection with voluntary traineeships by persons who hold a university degree. As a result, trainees receive only little benefit from their work and the corresponding traineeships are not particularly suited to facilitating the individual's transition to the labour market. It should however be noted that additional regulation does not automatically help make traineeships more effective or improve their quality.

The combination of vocational training and traineeship is a form of anchoring work experience in the education system (this is in some cases also called 'alternance') which exists alongside dual vocational training and can fulfil part of dual vocational training's functions. In recent years, the European Commission has taken up both concepts 0 traineeship and apprenticeship 0 which are being propagated as a solution to the extremely high youth unemployment in many Member States. In this connection, it will be important to be clear about the differences between the two forms and to examine the requirements for each. The previously-mentioned study for the European Commission (Institute for Employment Studies 2012 , 52) developed the following table for this: 

In Europe, dual vocational training (apprenticeships) constitutes a particularly effective means of organising the transition from education to employment which links together a variety of different functions and motivations of individuals and enterprises. Dual vocational training however also entails a number of prerequisites: It is geared to occupational profiles; it is comprehensively regulated and demands that the social partners at company level and at the policy level be very willing to reach a consensus. On the other hand, there are entirely unregulated forms of apprenticeships, such as those that are typical for university graduates in some countries. Traineeships that are integrated into vocational training programmes constitute the mid-point on this continuum. The players in the EU Member States will have to decide which degree of duality they want and are able to realise on this continuum. One thing however is clear: With their experience, German players from vocational training practice, research and development will be able to make very constructive contributions in connection with structuring of the targeted duality of qualification pathways. 

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footnotes:

1   http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&newsId=1599&furtherNews=yes

2   This is one of the findings arrived at by a comparative survey of establishments regarding motor vehicle and commerical occupations in Germany, Spain, Finland and the UK. See in this connection the INDUCT research project conducted by BIBB, http://www.bibb.de/en/55491.htm . 

Last modified on: July 26, 2012