East German mechanical engineering industry fights for trainees

In the eastern German mechanical engineering sector, the gap between demand and need is wider than ever before ahead of the new training year. According to a survey conducted by the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) East, 77 percent of training companies reported that they are having difficulties filling vacancies. Ten years ago, the figure was 50 percent.

Unfruitful search for applicants

According to the data, at the time of the survey in mid-July/mid-August, one in two companies still had vacancies for industrial/technical apprenticeships and one in five companies had vacancies for commercial apprenticeships. The majority of companies see little chance of filling these by the start of training. 69 percent of companies rate the prospects as "rather low", 22 percent consider it "hopeless".

Around 85 percent of companies offering technical apprenticeships attribute the problems to a lack of applications due to the frequent desire to study and insufficient careers guidance at schools. 60 percent also criticize the fact that school leavers are not sufficiently prepared for professional practice.

Internships as the key to attracting young talent

The head of the association, Oliver Köhn, is calling for more compulsory internships in order to break down traditional career interests and attract more young women to technical professions. Currently, there is one young woman in every ten technical trainees across all apprenticeship years in the eastern German industry

According to this, eastern German mechanical engineering companies are increasingly relying on their own trainees to cushion the shortage of skilled workers. They are getting involved in schools, at training fairs and in social networks to attract young people for training. The trainees themselves are also actively involved in recruiting, for example by presenting their professions in schools or creating content for social media.

According to the association, the eastern German mechanical and plant engineering sector comprises around 440 companies with 77,600 employees. Around 350 of the companies are members of VDMA East.