Dream jobs have remained unchanged for many years: young women mainly apply for training positions as medical assistants, young men as automotive mechatronics technicians. However, desire and reality don’t match well, explains Thomas Iser of the Offenbach Employment Agency. Interest in mechatronics is six times greater than any training place in the region, and 193 young women have applied for 72 medical assistant training places.
Offenbach – It is therefore urgent to report other professions, agree the Employment Agency, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) and the Chamber of Crafts. In the professions, for example, there is an urgent need for apprentices in thermo-hydraulic companies. “These are areas where there is also very specific concern about what the challenges of climate policy are,” says Florian Schöll of the Frankfurt-Rhine-Main Chamber of Crafts.
Satisfied with the IHK Offenbach, which has surpassed the numbers of 2019 with the qualifications and presents itself very well compared to other regions. The city and district of Offenbach are not an island of the blessed, emphasizes IHK deputy Hans-Joachim Giegerich. It threatens the shortage of skilled labor, especially as many people in regional companies will retire in the coming years. “In 2030, we foresee a lack of 23,000 qualified specialists,” he says. For many companies, survival is at stake.
For years, skilled trades and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry have complained that those who drop out of school are more likely to go to university and that an apprenticeship is not even considered. So something must change politically, says Schöll, schools must receive more information on manual crafts. “Many teachers don’t know any crafts, so they can’t pass on such job descriptions,” she says.
The Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Chamber of Crafts agree on the need to explore new ways of recruiting apprentices. For example, by making professions more attractive through experience abroad: this year, for the first time, the Chamber of Crafts sent precision mechanics and carpenters to Wisconsin (USA) on an exchange program.
Slight decline in craftsmanship
3266 people interested in a training place applied to the Employment Agency for the city and district, 299 fewer than the previous year. 2104 training places could be filled, last year they were 1978. 169 places could not be filled (2021: 234). The IHK Offenbach occupies a top position in the state confrontation with 1452 training contracts, more contracts than in the pre-Crown period. The Frankfurt-Rhine-Main Chamber of Crafts recorded 3,343 training contracts in its catchment area, 1.3% less than in 2021.
Stadtwerke Offenbach can also serve as a model for successfully recruiting apprentices: 49 trainees are employed here in 15 professions. The office clerk or car mechatronics training professions are a surefire success, but public services must create incentives for other occupations such as drivers or road builders. “We pay the driver’s license, for example,” says Giuseppe Sessa, authorized signatory to the Stadtwerke. Or you can help with the apartment search, offer more vacation days than required by law or pay the job ticket, says Gerlinde Klos, head of the personnel competence center.
Since parents have the greatest influence on their children’s career choices, we try to contact them at trade shows or meetings with parents. To reach future apprentices on your own, you need to be willing to use new media, he says: “In the near future, apprentices will provide information about their profession via the TikTok platform.”
Part-time training is also offered, such an intern is available at the utility company. “These are often very busy people,” Iser knows from experience.
By Frank Sommer
