Germany, US to Sign Joint Declaration of Workforce Training

The US (United States) 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 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."