Since March 2020, society, as well as the economy and the automotive industry in particular, have faced major challenges and massive pressure due to the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic also had a direct impact on the training market. While the economy is increasingly struggling to fill apprenticeships, the vehicle trade has a positive outlook for the future.
Lack of skilled workers, lack of young talent - two terms that could easily be voted the word of the year every single year. The economy is not just increasingly facing a shortage of skilled workers. Up-and-coming young talent is also a cause for concern. Because there simply isn't any in many areas. The coronavirus pandemic accentuated this problem even further: According to the German Federal Institute for Vocational Training (BIBB), for example, the total number of all company training contracts in 2020, the year of the coronavirus, fell by -10.9 percent to 467,484 from 525,039 in 2019. The automotive industry was hit even harder. In the automotive industry, the number of training contracts fell significantly according to information from the Central Association of the German Automotive Industry: For automotive mechatronics engineers, the number dropped by -11.9 percent to 20,100, and by -19.5 percent to 4,278 for automotive dealers.
Number of training contracts in the automotive industry above average
In 2021, the situation became less critical, at least in the automotive industry. According to BIBB, the total number of all company training contracts in 2021 increased by 1.2 percent to 473,064. Figures from the Federal Statistical Office suggest stagnation at a "historically low level" with a growth of just 0.6 percent. There is a different story in the automotive industry: Above-average growth of 3 percent was seen in the field of automotive mechatronics engineers (from 20,100 to 20,697) and an impressive 10.4 percent for automotive dealers (from 4,278 to 4,722).
Positive trend for the automotive industry
And the positive trend appears to be continuing. Back in August 2022, René Gravendyk, Member of the Board of the Central Association of the German Automotive Industry and expert in vocational training and education, said to Automobilwoche: "We've been developing very well so far. We expect the figures to continue on this upwards trend." Automotive mechatronics engineer is still one of the most popular apprenticeship professions.
So everything is great? Well, not quite if you listen to the training companies in the trade. According to a study by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce focussing on 2021, more than four out of ten IHK (German Chamber of Industry and Commerce) training companies were unable to fill all the apprenticeships offered - an all-time high. And more than a third of these companies didn't receive a single application. There is still a long way to go.
