The Berlin Chamber of Industry and Commerce build bridges for improved education and training

From a career route app to a research container, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) provides €15 million to fund qualification projects for young people

A chemistry container laboratory for graduates seeking to set up a business and an interactive map of Berlin providing information about training occupations are just two of the 23 projects which the Berlin Chamber of Industry and Commerce want to use to support vocational education and training, the transfer of knowledge and the integration of refugees. Beatrice Kramm, Chamber President, uses the term "innovation Transfer" to summarize the initiative.

At the general meeting in 2014, IHK members resolved to use surplus budgetary funds of €15 million to support innovative education and training projects in order to improve career guidance for young people, to establish networks between schools and businesses and thereby secure the demand for skilled workers.

23 projects were selected from several hundred in a two stage process. With decisions now having been made regarding the second round of funding, 15 new projects are being launched.

The background to the initiative is the increasing personnel shortage in the economy. According to one IHK study there is currently a shortage of 52,000 skilled workers. It is expected that, between 2021 and 2025, it will not be possible to fill 113,000 vacancies. In order to counteract this, the IHK are making efforts to strengthen vocational education and training.

It is also becoming increasingly difficult to fill training places. More than a third of companies (36.6 per cent) are not able to fill all training places offered because either there were no suitable applicants, they received no applications at all, trainees did not appear for the start of the training, or agreements were terminated once training started. The trend in all four categories has been increasing for a number of years.

One major shortcoming is the applicants’ readiness for training. Companies complain most often about the trainees’ willingness to work and their motivation. References are made to deficits in terms of resilience with a similar frequency. Criticism regarding the ability of trainees to express themselves and regarding discipline are also issues which trainers complain about with an increasing tendency.

Often, applicants also do not understand what the job involves. Four out of five companies say that training places remain unfilled because applicants have no clear concept of what the job involves. Knowledge of the requirements for individual occupations has been declining for a number of years. In 2012, nearly 50 per cent of companies specified this lack of knowledge as the reason for apprenticeships remaining unfilled.

Even though the training year officially started on 1 August, the IHK apprenticeship exchange is still reporting 1300 vacant positions. The Chamber of Crafts and Trades is still registering 900 unfilled training positions on its exchange. The latest report from the Employment Agency reveals an even greater discrepancy. According to this, 8,238 young people in Berlin are still seeking an apprenticeship. By the end of July, 6,548 training positions had not yet been filled.

With funding of more than €1 million, the most expensive project is Reinhard Schomäcker's container laboratory. Schomäcker is a chemistry professor at the technical university. The intention is that graduates can take up residence in this laboratory in order to set up their own business. From October, Schomäcker will be providing 100 square metres of laboratory space which meets scientific requirements in terms of safety standards and basic equipment.

In doing so, he is closing an important funding gap. This is because funds from start-up programs such as Exist are not permitted to be used for rental. Schomäcker has been flooded with enquiries. One team wants to use complex molecules to develop a smartphone screen to display braille, another is conducting research into non-penetrable plastic gloves for surgeons and a third is using nanoparticles to develop a soldering agent for high performance electronics.

Nihat Sorgeç’s team wants to offer an up-to-date apprenticeship search facility and, to do this, wants to roll out an internet application in Berlin which has been tried and tested in Leipzig. "Many young people are only aware of up to 15 occupations," said Sorgeç. He wants to change this. The app provides routes which young people can use to find out about new occupations and businesses.