Germany struggles to find interns

It published the results of the survey on “apprenticeship training” carried out by the Union of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) to more than 14,000 German industrial companies.

Thus, 47 per cent of German companies declared having difficulties finding interns. This is the highest rate since the survey was conducted in 2005.

According to DIHK survey data, 37 percent of companies that failed to fill their vacant quota of interns did not receive a single application.

It was stated that the problem of not being able to find interns was concentrated in hotels and restaurants, as well as in the industrial and commercial sectors. The shortage of interns was claimed to affect 62 percent of hotels and restaurants.

According to DIHK results, the number of students graduating from school in the country is about 100,000 less than 10 years ago. It was claimed that this means that the number of those leaving the labor market will soon be 400,000 more than those entering it.

“The LACK OF VOCATIONAL ORIENTATION IS THE SECOND LARGEST PROBLEM IN THE EDUCATION MARKET”

Achim Dercks, DIHK Deputy Director General, said: “Firstly, there is the impact of demographic change. Another problem is that there is an intermediate stage in which many young people still do not know what to do after finishing school. They travel, study or stay at home unemployed. Therefore, the lack of professional guidance is the second biggest problem in the educational market”. He used the phrase.

Reporting that approximately 207,000 internship contracts were signed in the first six months of this year, Dercks said this represents an increase of 3.7 percent compared to the same period last year. Dercks also stated that despite the “worrying” results of said survey, the current numbers of internship contracts signed at the end of July 2023 are somewhat positive.

While German companies find qualified personnel thanks to vocational training, in many sectors of the country there are labor shortages due to the growth of the German economy and the aging of the population. (AA)