Coronavirus and the Training Situation (3rd Quarter 2020)
The special questions of the survey in the third quarter of 2020 focused on in-house vocational training. Among other things, they addressed the situation during the coronavirus pandemic, but they also looked ahead to the 2020/2021 training year.
The data was weighted by industry sector and size category. Of the personnel managers surveyed, 79 percent stated that they worked at a company that offers in house vocational training. The service sector stands out in that only 66 percent of the companies there provide training. Another observation is that as the number of employees in the companies increases, the share of companies that provide training increases.
The Larger the Company, the Greater the Probability They Offer Apprenticeships
Of the companies that provide training, 90 percent also had apprentices working at their company in the third quarter. Here there are only small differences among the economic sectors. In contrast, it is clearly evident that company size has a strong influence on whether a company employs apprentices. At large companies with 500 or more employees, every company that provides training has apprentices – in small companies that provide training, however, this applies to just 86 percent.
Nearly a Quarter of the Large Companies Took on Fewer Apprentices
In the 2019/2020 training year, apprenticeships were completed at 69 percent of companies that provide training – 88 percent of which earned a vocational qualification. Because they have a smaller number of apprentices, the probability that an apprenticeship was completed in the previous training year is lower for smaller companies than for large ones. However, apprenticeships completed at smaller companies seem less likely to result in the earning of a vocational qualification.
The personnel managers were also asked whether they had to deviate from their recruitment plans with regard to their apprentices who had successfully qualified. A full 61 percent of the personnel managers said no: they took on just as many apprentices who qualified as they had planned at the beginning of the year. Only 10 percent reported that they had to take on fewer apprentices, and 4 percent actually took on more than they had planned at the beginning of the year. A look at the size categories reveals that it was especially the large companies that took on fewer apprentices who had qualified than was originally intended (22 percent). Just 8 percent of the personnel managers stated that there were no plans regarding this and a further 17 percent of the companies with apprentices who obtained a qualification did not answer this question.
Coronavirus Pandemic Leads to Operational Constraints for More Than a Third of the Companies Surveyed
Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions it entailed, apprentices were also confronted with a difficult situation. Besides coping with school closures, which of course affected vocational schools as well, in some cases apprentices were unable to be on site, as stipulated by companies’ hygiene policies. Not all work can be done from home, raising the question of how a “remote apprenticeship” can lead to the desired educational results. Of the personnel managers surveyed, 35 percent stated that the pandemic had led to operational constraints for apprentices.
The larger the company, the greater the proportion of personnel managers who answered this question in the affirmative. At small companies with up to 49 employees, the share was 27 percent, and there were operational constraints at 56 percent of large companies with 500 employees or more. In manufacturing this figure was 36 percent, in retail 29 percent, and in the service sector 39 percent.
Operational Constraints Lead to Gaps in Knowledge Transfer at Almost Three Quarters of the Companies
At companies experiencing operational constraints, the personnel managers were asked whether gaps in knowledge transfer had arisen and whether these could be made up for. In 72 percent of the firms with operational constraints, there were gaps in the transfer of knowledge to apprentices, while 27 percent stated that no such gaps had arisen.
At any rate, most of the companies were able to close the gaps again, so that all in all less than a quarter of them stated that the gaps still existed. Gaps in knowledge transfer happened most frequently in manufacturing due to the operational constraints. However, these could be closed again in the vast majority of cases. Knowledge transfer gaps arose less frequently in trade companies, but these companies were also much less likely to make up for them.
Lack of Applications and Lack of Qualifications: The Difficult Search for Apprentices
Of the businesses that provide training, 39 percent will fill as many apprenticeships in the new year as in the previous year, while 15 percent will increase the number of apprentices and 14 percent will decrease it. A good 20 percent of the companies that provide training will not offer any apprenticeships for the 2020/2021 training year and 11 percent were unable to fill any of the apprenticeships offered.
Among the personnel managers surveyed, 45 percent stated that they had problems finding apprentices. A particularly large number of companies reported this in the manufacturing sector (50 percent) while the lowest share was in the service sector (41 percent). Nearly all companies that were unable to fill any of their apprenticeships reported problems in finding apprentices (98 percent). Of those businesses that reduced their number of apprentices, 52 percent reported difficulties in their search. The main problems reported were a lack of applications (14 percent) and a lack of qualified applicants (10 percent). Another 6 percent responded “other reasons,” but almost all their comments referred to a lack of applications. Of the personnel managers surveyed, 70 percent did not provide further details regarding their problems finding apprentices.
