At present, the continuing education industry does not feel the effects of the weak economic situation. According to the annual association survey of the Wuppertaler Kreis e. V. federal vocational continuing education association, the majority of institutes providing continuing education report increasing business volumes and rising participant numbers.
With its annual association survey "Trends in der Weiterbildung" (continuing education trends), the Wuppertaler Kreis evaluates developments on the continuing education market on the basis of trend statements regarding incoming orders, business outlook and development trends in the market. For the coming year, the majority of Wuppertaler Kreis member institutes expect the positive development to continue.
More than 60 per cent of participants in seminars held by the Wuppertaler Kreis come from small and medium-sized enterprises with up to 500 employees. Against the background of demographic change and the skilled labour shortage, the institutions providing continuing education are in particular requested to support the small and medium-sized enterprises.
In addition to increased efforts in filling executive positions with women, the integration of people with disabilities and the recruitment and professional development of foreign employees are of increasing importance for the service range on offer.
More than half of the Wuppertaler Kreis member institutes conduct business also abroad. The spectrum here ranges from providing continuing education services for German enterprises abroad to institutes maintaining their own branch offices, for example, in China. The experiences made in cooperating with international enterprises proved to be particularly positive: The majority of institutes plan to further develop this service proposition in the future.