"Current journeyman examinations must not become an exclusion criterion in terms of entitlement to apply"

The Baden-Württemberg Building Federation is calling for its training centres not to be excluded from the bridging support for small and medium-sized companies. The key parameters to these measures, already approved by the German Federal Cabinet, must be improved. In total, the construction industry in Baden-Württemberg operates twelve training institutions in which inter-company training takes place for more than 5,500 trainee builders.

Thomas Möller, Chief Executive of the Building Federation, explains: "Training means securing the supply of skilled workers. It is therefore correct to ensure initially that training centres and inter-company vocational training centres are considered as part of the bridging support. However, the actual situation of the training organisation needs to be taken into account in the design of this support. Due to the upcoming final examinations which have been moved into the summer months as a result of the lockdown, this period is not appropriate as a basis for comparison. The condition for application should be based solely on the falling revenues in the months of April and May. In this period our centres were forced to close for several weeks due to the coronavirus crisis. The forthcoming journeyman examinations must not become a financial exclusion criterion in terms of entitlement to apply."

Möller makes reference to the fact that the training centres are essential for delivering high-quality vocational training, as has been the practice for decades in the construction sector. He adds that the support now promised could, if organised in line with needs, contribute to helping the centres beyond the current crisis. Only once the institutional infrastructure for vocational education and training is also in place, and continues to be ensured, can training also continue to be provided at a high level into the future.

The construction sector has around 40,000 trainees across Germany of which 80 per cent are being trained in a commercial Small and Medium Enterprise company within the industry - and this makes the sector extremely strong in terms of training. The number of trainees and training companies has been increasing for many years. This shows the importance attached to ensuring the next generation of skilled workers in the construction sector.