Zypries: "The craft trades sector offers unparalleled career opportunities"

"Day of the Craft Trades" took place on 16 September 2017 under the motto of "Ability knows no barriers".

The seventh "Day of the Craft Trades" took place on 16 September 2017. The aim of the event, which this year adopted the motto "Ability knows no barriers", is to highlight the wealth of occupational opportunities that are available in the craft trades sector. Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy Brigitte Zypries marked the occasion by attending an apprenticeship completion ceremony held at the Darmstadt-Dieburg District Craft Trades Association, where she delivered a keynote speech and personally presented the journeymen certificates.

During her address, she made the following remarks. "The craft trades sector has always played an important part in German trade and industry. Well-trained German workers are more in demand than ever. And I am constantly discovering that the combination of technical progress and a traditional craft trade generates a large amount of interest, especially amongst young people. For this reason, young people in particular represent an opportunity to drive forward digitalisation in the craft trades. This is an area of potential that the sector must make sure it utilises. The branch also has much to offer in return. It is, for example, possible to move into senior positions after a few years of experience. Passing the master craftsman also opens the door to self-employment.”

In 2010, the craft trades sector launched a national awareness campaign called "Craft trades - the economic power next door". Alongside the provision of information, the main objective is to recruit up-and-coming talent. The "Day of the Craft Trades" event has formed the annual centrepiece of this initiative since 2011.

Chambers of crafts and trades, district craft trade associations, guilds and companies right across Germany invite young people to find out more about the varied occupations, state-of-the-art technology, innovations and career opportunities that are available. Visitors also get the chance to gain a taste of what it means to be a craft trade worker.

Over the past few years, the Federal Government has initiated a whole series of measures aimed at bolstering the craft trades. Alignments made to the German and European Qualifications Frameworks have, for example, placed the master craftsman qualification on a par with a Bachelor degree in formal terms. Funding for the so-called "Upgrading Training Assistance Act" was also enhanced with a view to putting the chances and opportunities of pursuing master craftsman training on an equal footing with access to university education.

The "Centre of Excellence for Digital Craft Trades" will soon boast five locations. The goal here is to provide familiarity with innovations associated with the process of digitalisation. These locations will act as shop windows and offer support on the topics of information and communications technology, digital processes, building information modelling, production and automation technologies, and IT-aided business models.

The topics of energy efficiency and digitalisation have also been more firmly established within the field of training and continuing education. Apart from all this, the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy assists small and medium-sized enterprises in acquiring higher education drop-outs for dual vocational education and training and advanced training via such vehicles as a centre of excellence devoted to the task of securing the supply of skilled workers.