In order to close the gap in the labor market, the federal government is also relying on immigration. After all, according to the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB), there are currently 1.73 million vacancies. The new Skilled Immigration Act should help. But integration into the German work system often fails, especially for young immigrants. A study by researchers at the University of Konstanz now shows which factors are responsible for this.
Dual training plays a central role. This is how many immigrants find their way into the German labor market. Young migrants in particular often lack the formal or linguistic requirements for studying or getting a direct job. The problem, however, is that migrants are twice as likely to drop out of their training as German trainees.
As part of the research project Integration at Work Scientists at the University of Konstanz are trying to understand the reasons for this. Since 2019, they have been surveying both German and migrant trainees at regular intervals. There are now 1,139 young people. The data is available exclusively to the SZ and shows that both individual requirements and social support in the workplace play a role.
Good language skills reduce the willingness to quit by half
According to the study, the individual requirements primarily include previous training, language skills and motivation of the trainees. Good language skills reduce the willingness of immigrant trainees to quit by half. And previous education is also crucial. If they had a poor educational background, 40 percent of the migrants surveyed said they were thinking about quitting. If they had a good school education, the figure was 31 percent. For Germans, previous training also makes a difference, but they are less likely to drop out of their training.
“You shouldn’t put trainees into jobs without skills and previous knowledge in which they don’t meet the requirements at all. Then the dropout is relatively close,” warns Florian Kunze. He leads the research project. According to him, job requirements should not be reduced in order to combat the shortage of skilled workers. Instead, you should rely on help with pre-qualification and good onboarding.
The working environment also plays an important role
In addition, social interactions in the workplace influence the trainees’ satisfaction, especially at the beginning of training. “Trainees with a migration background also seem to react much more sensitively,” says Kunze. The study shows, for example, that support from colleagues in the work environment reduces the intention to quit by half.
But it doesn’t always have to be major onboarding measures, according to the researcher. It is often enough to sensitize employees. “It’s direct interaction. What language do you use? What do you joke about?” says Kunze. Especially in small businesses. The researcher is certain: “You can see that even small things can make a big difference.”