Overview
- Employers' associations bayme and vbm reported on Wednesday that new apprenticeship contracts in Bavaria’s metal and electrical sector have fallen by about 10 percent this year to roughly 12,000 contracts.
- The employers say the drop reflects a sustained sector crisis and a shortage of suitably qualified applicants, though they expect numbers to stabilise next year.
- IG Metall called the decline an alarming sign for Bavaria’s industrial future and warned that fewer trainees risk long-term harm to the region’s competitiveness.
- At the same time, handcraft training continues to grow nationwide with about 67,800 new contracts in January–June, an increase of 4.9 percent, and Bavarian chambers reported July growth of 7.4 percent.
- Representatives from the handcraft sector and the federal training institute (BIBB) say rising interest in apprenticeships strengthens calls to legally recognise vocational routes as equal to university study and to invest in training centres.