Overview

• Nineteen percent of recent school-leavers plan to enter the workforce immediately without vocational training or university, rising to 25 percent among those with low educational attainment.
• Insufficient apprentice pay—often trailing behind the statutory minimum wage—alongside limited career guidance are cited as the main factors driving this shift.
• Germany already counts 2.86 million people aged 20 to 34 without vocational qualifications and recorded more than 570,000 unfilled skilled positions last year.
• Although 43 percent of respondents still intend to pursue apprenticeships and 40 percent aim for university study, experts warn the early exodus threatens the dual vocational system.
• Industry and education leaders propose raising apprenticeship wages and expanding targeted transition support to keep young people in formal training pathways.