Higher demands on young people
Fewer jobs expected for the less educated
06.09.2022, 5:30 a.m
Young people with little schooling will find it even more difficult to find work in the future. Experts assume that the requirements for training will become stricter. The result: While companies are desperately looking for trainees, the number of unskilled workers continues to rise.
According to a survey of experts, young people with little schooling will have even fewer chances on the training market in the future. According to a survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the German Children and Youth Foundation, 53 percent of the vocational training experts surveyed expect increasing quality requirements in training occupations by 2030. This also applies to professions that are relevant for young people with little school education.
Around half of those surveyed expect the number of unskilled workers to increase further by 2030. 61 percent expect the number of unskilled young people to increase because of a lack of job opportunities. Almost all respondents assume that dual vocational training will still be of great importance in 2030. At the same time, 85 percent expect imbalances to persist. Apprenticeship positions would remain vacant in the future, while young people could not find a place. 60 percent expect that young people who cannot find a training place will first have to go through transitional measures.
For 80 percent of those surveyed, school-based careers orientation had great potential to improve the transition chances of young people with low school-leaving qualifications. 83 percent of the experts call for young people to be continuously and individually supported in the transition from school to training.
Educational success also depends on origin
60 percent think it makes sense to make the training system more flexible, for example with partial qualifications. However, only 40 percent believe that this will happen. However, 70 percent expect that companies will increasingly look for people with partial qualifications. For 82 percent it is unlikely that the link between origin and educational success will be broken by 2030. Around a hundred experts from business, administration, education, science and civil society were interviewed for the survey.
“As a society, we have to ask ourselves whether we can continue to afford it and want many young people not to find a connection every year and at the same time the number of unfilled training places is increasing,” explained Andreas Knoke from the German Children and Youth Foundation. The shortage of skilled workers is a pressing issue.
“Resolute action is finally needed to really give all young people the opportunity for training and thus individual development opportunities,” Knoke continued. The initiators of the study called for the training guarantee agreed in the coalition agreement to be implemented quickly and effectively.