The federate state of Baden-Württemberg is providing funding of around 10 million euros to support inter-company vocational education and training courses in 2018. This will ensure the quality of training, enhance readiness for training, and support development opportunities for young people.
"The demand for professionally qualified skilled workers is huge and continues to increase. Company-based training is critical both for the next generation of skilled workers in companies and for the performance of our economy. Our inter-company vocational education and training courses enable us to ensure the quality of training. This is of utmost importance, in particular in light of rapid technological development and the increasing complexity of the training occupations. Additionally, this enables us to increase the readiness in particular of small and medium-sized enterprises to provide training and to provide development opportunities for young people," explains Minister of Economic Affairs, Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut.
Small and medium-sized enterprises benefit in particular
Business organisations are receiving funding for more than 8,100 courses in around 100 educational institutions. This is where more than 87,000 trainees receive tuition in the priority areas of the skilled trades and the building sector. "Here, trainees learn the training content which the respective training company is not able to deliver due to its size or area of specialism. Small and medium-sized enterprises benefit from this in particular," explains Hoffmeister-Kraut.
Most courses are delivered in federal state skilled trade organisations — here alone, more than 61,300 trainees participate in 6,000 courses. The skilled trades involve demanding training. And this is increasingly the case since requirements are increasing in training and in the company with regard to digitalisation as well as consultation and service.
More than 130 training occupations are offered in the skilled trades alone. With 1,500 courses for more than 20,500 trainees, the building sector in Baden-Württemberg is one of the largest providers of inter-company vocational education and training. This includes both large construction companies as well as small and medium-sized skilled trade companies in the fields of building construction, civil engineering, roads construction and interior construction. The inter-company vocational education and training courses take place at the construction industry training centres in addition to the company-based training. Here, the skilled construction workers of the future can expect to find the ideal — modern — conditions for learning the varied skills relating to the occupation in the future.
Inter-company vocational education and training courses are offered in 100 business organisation training centres in Baden-Württemberg and receive annual funding of around €10 million from the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Employment and Housing. Around 50 per cent of approximately 190,000 trainees participate in inter-company vocational education and training courses each year. Course content is continually updated to the new occupational profiles and technical developments and the courses themselves deliver training content which, for instance, is not able to be delivered in small or specialised companies. This enables small and medium-sized businesses in particular to recruit the next generation of qualified skilled workers. The courses represent an additional element of company-based training and ensure a high level of ever more demanding training.