ifo Institute: The Coronavirus Has Disrupted Vocational Education in Germany
The coronavirus has adversely affected vocational education in Germany. Of the personnel managers surveyed, 35 percent stated that the pandemic had led to operational constraints for apprentices. This is the finding of the latest Randstad ifo Personnel Manager Survey. The larger the company, the higher the number of personnel managers who acknowledged constraints on training operations. In small companies with up to 49 employees, the share was 27 percent. In large companies with 500 employees or more, it was as high as 56 percent.
The severity of the constraints depended on the industry, among other factors. In the service sector, 39 percent of companies were affected, in manufacturing 36 percent, and in trade 29 percent.
The operational constraints took different forms: 72 percent of the companies did not manage to maintain a seamless transfer of knowledge. However, 49 percent of those were able to close the gap again further down the line. Of the companies that faced constraints, 27 percent had no gaps in knowledge transfer. In 23 percent of cases, however, the gaps remained.
