National pact for training and the next generation of skilled workers
On June 16, 2004, the German federal government and central associations of the German economy signed the National Pact for Training and Young Skilled Workers , colloquially known as the Training Pact , for a period of 3 years in order to achieve a trend reversal in the training market. Every young person who is willing and able to train should be given a training offer in order to secure the next generation of skilled workers.
Balance sheet / criticism
In 2004 the government at that time had long argued for a training place tax, which should improve the apprenticeship situation with financial incentives. On May 7, 2004, the apprenticeship fee was passed in the Bundestag with the votes of the governing coalition. Initially, however, the law should "remain unprocessed" if a pact with the business community comes about. A short time later, the corresponding agreement and thus the so-called training pact was signed with the trade associations. There was criticism from the trade unions from the beginning: The DGB was still convinced that the introduction of a training place tax would have resulted in a broader participation of companies in training.
Although the formal agreements of the pact were largely adhered to, many problems were not resolved:
More and more young people switched to schools:
- 1992: 73,000
- 2005: 132,000
The number of young people who directly looked for a job without training increased more than threefold.
- 1992: 23,300
- 2005: 82,600
There was still a shortage of more than 100,000 company training positions: Despite newly advertised positions, the number of company training positions fell, and the relationship between supply and demand continued to deteriorate. There was no change in the companies' willingness to provide training, only around 23% provided training. The pact, and especially the entry-level qualification year , caused a lot of administrative effort that had to be carried out all year round. Despite much criticism, at the end of January 2006, federal ministries and business associations decided to extend the pact until 2010.
The Federal Employment Agency presented its balance sheet of career counseling for 2005/2006 on October 11, 2006. According to this, on September 30, 2006, there were still 49,500 applicants without a training contract. That was more than 9,000 applicants more than on September 30, 2005. Only 15,400 vacant apprenticeships are reported to the federal agency.
At its meeting on October 26, 2010, the steering committee for the training pact decided to continue the training pact until 2014 with new focuses and to accept new partners. As new partners with their own contributions, the pact will be involved in the future: the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) and the Federal Government's Commissioner for Integration. With their accession, the pact gains valuable support for the implementation of the pact's goals and the new priorities.
In addition, the previous pact partners drew a positive interim balance on the training market.
Web links
- IABInfoSpezial on the subject of the apprenticeship crisis with publications, research projects, institutions and related links
- Website of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry DIHK on the training pact
- tagesschau.de from October 11, 2006 (tagesschau.de archive)
- ZDH Joint declaration of the partners of the training pact and the Federal Employment Agency