It is becoming increasingly difficult for secondary school students to find an apprenticeship – not every apprenticeship is qualified for a qualification. But there are still opportunities.
According to the Federal Employment Agency, in addition to high school graduates and secondary school students, secondary school students also have a good chance of finding an apprenticeship at the start of the new training year. Most of the apprenticeships that are still available, which are often filled by secondary school students, are in professions such as sales assistant, warehouse logistics specialist or medical and dental assistant.
There are major difficulties in filling positions and thus above-average opportunities for applicants in food-related professions, construction, sales, gastronomy, transport and logistics, as well as in many skilled trades such as metal construction or heating technology.
The proportion of secondary school students among all school leavers is 16 percent. However, they make up 30 percent of those young people who register with the employment agencies for placement in an apprenticeship.
Although there are in principle no barriers to entry for apprenticeships, due to employers’ requirements, only 60 percent of all available apprenticeships are actually open to secondary school students, whereas 93 percent are open to middle school students and all of them to high school graduates. The best chances of getting an apprenticeship are currently regionally in the states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Thuringia.
“Every young person looking for training is a potential skilled worker of tomorrow. This is another reason why no young person should be lost,” said the Federal Employment Agency. The employment agencies could provide support not only in the search, but also in the training itself – for example with assisted training, a mobility grant or vocational training allowance.
In total, more than 400,000 applicants have registered for a training position between October 2023 and July 2024. That was 10,000 more than in the same period last year. Of these, 121,000 had not found a training position or an alternative in July. At the same time, 492,000 training positions were reported, 22,000 fewer than a year ago. 204,000 of these were still vacant. The employment agencies will continue to place applicants in training positions for the current training year until the end of the year.
Source: Stern
