Die USA und Deutschland arbeiten künftig in der Ausbildung von Arbeitskräften enger zusammen. Beide Länder unterzeichneten Anfang Juni eine entsprechende Absichtserklärung.
Germany, US to Sign Joint Declaration of Workforce Training
The US and Germany are moving toward closer cooperation on education and
workforce training with the newly-signed Joint Declaration of Intent.
The
German Federal Ministries of Education and Research (BMBF), Economic Affairs and
Energy, and Labour and Social Affairs have been working with the United States
(US) Departments of Commerce, Labor, and Education to develop the joint
declaration, which will outline the shared belief of the importance of technical
education while strengthening ties between the nations.
On Friday, June
5, government officials from both countries signed the Joint Declaration at the
German Marshall Fund in Washington, DC. The eventual goal is to have a system
for recognizing certificates, exchange best practices and encourage cooperation
between companies on skills training.
Today, there are more training
programs than ever before in the US. German and American companies continue to
work together to address the so-called "skills gap." In a 2013 study conducted
by Accenture, nearly half of the 400 companies surveyed said they were concerned
about finding skilled workers. Even today, there are positions –
well-compensated and respected positions – at many companies that go unfilled
due to lack of a skilled workforce.
German companies are responsible for
over 600,000 American jobs each year, therefore finding skilled workers is
important for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. Since 2012, the German
Embassy has been working with German companies and organizations, such as the
German American Chambers of Commerce and the Representative of German Industry
and Trade, to develop the Skills Initiative.
The Skills Initiative is a
program that introduces the best practices of German workforce training to US
companies and educational institutes in order to bring about better training
programs.
US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker voiced her support
for the Skills Initiative, and said in 2014 that the Embassy is "leading the
campaign" to show the benefits of the dual-training system. At the event, she
called the German dual training system, "one of the most valuabe German imports
of our time."
"German companies that operate in the US profit from more
structured dual training programs on site, which we are striving for with this
Joint Declaration," said BMBF Parliamentary State Secretary Thomas Rachel. The
declaration will benefit both US and German companies, as it will provide a
better framework for training cooperation between the two countries.
As
Ambassador Wittig said earlier this year, "German ingenuity sometimes needs
American creativity to realize its full potential. Mixing the hard-working ethic
of both counties is a recipe for great success."