The partners’ common goal is to strengthen dual vocational training and to promote the equal value of vocational and academic education. Every young person interested in vocational training is to be shown a possible pathway that will lead them towards obtaining a vocational qualification as early as possible. The partners place a major priority on training in companies, and are particularly committed to the integration of refugees.

The aim of the Alliance is to provide a central political platform which can enhance the attractiveness, quality, efficiency and inclusiveness of dual vocational training.

At a high-level meeting in August 2019, the partners of the Alliance for Initial and Further Training issued a declaration in which they redefined key fields of action and measures to continue the Alliance for Initial and Further Training 2015 to 2018.

Key fields of action of the Alliance for Initial and Further Training 2019 to 2021

1. Bringing more young people and companies together and ensuring the continuity of apprenticeships.
2. Continuing to enhance the attractiveness and quality of dual vocational training; promoting vocational training together.
3. Strengthening advanced vocational training schemes.

The Alliance for Initial and Further Training 2015 to 2018 has already introduced a variety of measures, including:

• considerable expansion of the supply of vocational training places reported to the Federal Employment Agency
• information events for young people and companies such as the ‘Training Week’ organised by the Federal Employment Agency, sectoral dialogues and workshops exploring issues such as mobility and flexibility in dual vocational training or cooperation between vocational schools and companies
• assisted training as a tool to support disadvantaged young people and the companies providing the training

The Integration Act has delivered one of the Alliance’s key aspirations, i.e. permitting foreigners whose deportation has been suspended to stay in Germany for the duration of and time immediately after their training programme (‘3+2 solution’).

The specifics of on-the-job training for each profession are laid down in the relevant training regulations. These set out uniform standards for the content of the training, the time at which certain parts of it are to be taught during the course, and for exams. This nation-wide standard and the fact that qualifications are recognised by the state work like a hallmark of quality that companies seeking to employ new staff can use as guidance. As a result, employees can switch positions fairly easily.

Training regulations are regularly updated to ensure they correspond to the latest state-of-the-art of technology, and to changes in the work environment and in society at large. Regulations can be modernised or new ones created, depending on what businesses need. For an overview of the current dual vocational training system, please click click here (PDF, 106 KB).

The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action also provides dual vocational training itself.

Furthermore, education is an important aspect of the German government’s Digital Agenda. This year’s national IT summit will place a strong focus on digital education.

Greater flexibility and less rigidity

We want to make the system more flexible and dynamic, ensuring that dual education becomes available to all young people, certainly those with school qualifications, and from companies of all types and sizes. We also want to find ways for young people who are not starting out from an ideal position to be able to access vocational training without them to have to wait or attend preparatory training first.

Tailored matching of applicants and companies offering training places

There are around 160 professional ‘matchmakers’ working for the business chambers and other business organisations who help SMEs find German and foreign-born apprentices to take up their training places. This programme helps prevent a skills gap from forming and makes SMEs more competitive. In addition to helping companies recruit trainees, the advisors also help SMEs develop a culture of welcome and integrate foreign-born apprentices and skilled workers.

You can find a list of the business chambers and organisations that work with such advisors here (in German). The German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (ZDH) is in charge of organising the programme and can provide you with further information.

Women working in the STEM occupations

Science, technology, engineering and maths – the so-called STEM occupations – offer ideal job prospects for skilled professionals who have completed vocational training. As digitisation proceeds, demand for STEM professionals will continue to grow. Unfortunately, it is still the case that not many girls choose a career in these fields. Work placements for school pupils can be an excellent way for young people to gain a realistic idea of what it would be like to work in this occupation and to become interested in pursuing in the STEM occupations.

It is a key objective of the ministry to arouse female pupils’ interest in taking up vocational training for a STEM occupation. The ministry is therefore very supportive of the National Pact for Women in STEM occupations, whose motto is “Come on, go for STEM.”

Providing vocational training for young people with disabilities

Dual vocational training provides for social inclusion. It opens up career opportunities for young people with disabilities and allows them to actively participate in society. Many companies are already employing apprentices with disabilities. The Centre of Excellence on securing skilled labour, an institution funded by the ministry, offers support to small and medium-sized companies that seek to include young apprentices with disabilities into their workforce. The centre organises information events and provides companies with advice and best-practice examples.

Training without borders

To help trainees and young skilled professionals prepare themselves for the demands of a globalised economy, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action provides funding for the vocational training without borders network. The network wants to bring up the number of apprentices and newly qualified professions who spend some time working abroad. More than 50 mobility advisors in the chambers of skilled crafts and chambers of industry and commerce that take part in the programme provide companies, trainees and young skilled workers with advice and support in organising and conducting traineeships abroad. They further help find partner companies abroad and obtain funding.

Companies that do a lot to support their young talent to venture abroad can apply for the ‘vocational training without borders’ award. The award was presented on 24 April.

A to Z of occupations requiring formal vocational training

What does working in the occupation actually involve? Who can do this job and how is the training organised? What are the career opportunities? Please consult the list below for answers to these questions and for more detailed information on the most important dual vocational training occupations.

More than 16 million people in Germany have a migrant background. Until now, however, young people from immigrant families have been underrepresented in initial vocational training under the dual system - as have the more than 700,000 companies in Germany run by entrepreneurs with a migrant background.

Vocational training ensures that refugees not only find shelter from war and displacement, but that they are also given new prospects for the future through targeted integration into the German labour market. In the medium term, this will help secure the next generation of skilled workers in Germany.

As the competent ministry for dual vocational training and SME policy, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action is of particular importance when it comes to providing access to training for immigrants and refugees. Because today’s trainees are the skilled professionals in world of tomorrow.

Vocational training – a gateway to integration

The Economic Affairs Ministry’s “Integration through Training” initiative (in German) aims to help increase the number of young people with a migrant background who complete in-house vocational training at a company. It is intended to encourage these people to take up training for one of the 325 professions for which vocational training is available. Furthermore, the initiative seeks to encourage entrepreneurs with a migrant background to take on more trainees.

‘Refugee guides’ for refugees pursuing vocational training

There are 170 ‘refugee guides’ based at around 110 business chambers and other business organisations, who act as a point of contact for small and medium-sized companies seeking to offer vocational training, work experience or employment to refugees. The refugee guides visit companies and provide advice around the legal framework, the paperwork possibly involved, and the regional and national support mechanisms available to companies. The aim in each is to find a bespoke solution for the company. Furthermore, the refugee guides help companies put in place and develop a true culture of welcome within the workforce, which is key to successful integration.

You can find a list of the business chambers and organisations that work with refugee guides here (in German) (PDF, 209 KB). The German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (ZDH) is in charge of organising the programme and can provide you with further information.

The Bundestag adopts Integration Act

In order to guarantee better training opportunities for refugees and to give them clear prospects, the Bundestag adopted an Integration Act on 7 July 2016 which promotes the integration of recent arrivals both into our society and the labour market, and at the same time obliges them to make their own efforts towards integration. The Act includes a number of important measures to support companies that want to train and employ refugees. Under the “3+2 rule”, refugees who have completed three years of vocational training in Germany will be granted another two years’ leave to remain so that they can work in Germany. For further information regarding the 3+2 principle, please follow the link.

Set of measures adopted within the Alliance for Initial and Further Training

In addition to providing shelter from war, displacement and political persecution, Germany wants to open up opportunities for refugees to obtain professional qualifications and work in our country.

Language classes are essential for better integration of newcomers. The German Government has dramatically increased the financial envelope for these language classes. Please go to the section on the Alliance for Initial and Further Training for information on additional measures.

BQ Portal for the assessment of professional qualifications obtained outside Germany

Assessing foreign qualifications to see whether they can be recognised as equivalent to German ones is key to the efforts to successfully integrate refugees and migrants in the German labour market. There are many companies on the lookout for skilled labour in Germany. The BQ Portal is there to help them gain a better understanding of foreign qualifications.

‘Companies integrate refugees’ network

The nationwide ‘companies integrate refugees’ network was launched in March 2016. It is financed by the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and is to support companies in their efforts to provide vocational training, work experience and jobs to refugees. The network acts as a platform for companies to learn from one another and seek support.

Centre of excellence on securing skilled labour: information for small and medium-sized enterprises

The Centre of Excellence on securing skilled labour operates an online platform to support small and medium-sized companies in their HR work. They can also find tailored information on how to include refugees in work and vocational training. Small and medium-sized companies can find out what rules and legal provisions apply when employing refugees and where they can turn to for support. There are also some real-life examples showing how integration can work in practice.

Our programme entitled “Stark für Ausbildung” (a strong commitment to training)

The "Stark für Ausbildung" programme, which is funded by the Economic Affairs Ministry, is aimed specifically at training staff in small and medium-sized enterprises. It provides these employees with the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to successfully train young people with special personality profiles, such as young people who had to flee their country as well as people with fewer opportunities and high-performing trainees.