As of: 06/11/2022 4:46 p.m
Hundreds of thousands of new specialists are needed for the energy transition. And craft businesses need ideas to get young people excited about an apprenticeship. The prospects in the “climate professions” have never been better.
Luke Wübbe from Hennef actually wanted to be a federal police officer. The 17-year-old is now training to be a roofer and, among other things, installs photovoltaic systems. Because the demand is huge here. The trainees are proud to work in a “climate profession”. But he also knows that this message does not spread on its own. “Unfortunately, there is far too little advertising from the trades, i.e. from the companies themselves. And what is coming simply didn’t appeal to me at the time – because it often shows outdated clichés of the trades,” says Wübbe.
The craft is more than sustainable right now. Because the planned energy transition will suddenly turn classic trades into “climate-related jobs”: electricians, mechatronics technicians, plumbers – and roofers too. A study commissioned by the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen parliamentary group in the Bundestag showed that around 440,000 additional skilled workers would be needed by 2030 in order to achieve the federal government’s energy targets. Solar and wind systems have to be built and maintained, electric cars need to be expertly repaired, and buildings need to be renovated to be climate-friendly.
Fewer trainees, more university graduates
But the trend in Germany has long been towards higher educational qualifications, while at the same time the number of trainees has been falling for years. According to the Federal Institute for Vocational Training, there were still 1.51 million trainees in Germany in 2010 – in 2020 there were only 1.21 million.
Luke Wübbe came into contact with his current training company two years ago at a job fair at his school. “Before that, nobody really made the craft tempting for me. It was different at my company, they had a cool stand and something to try out,” he recalls. “So I realized that maybe it could be something for me.” Nevertheless, he carried the business card around with him for quite a while until he decided to do the apprenticeship. Today he says: “I feel great. And I really want to continue after the apprenticeship.”
All training positions are filled – a rarity
The strategy of actively approaching young people is paying off for managing director Tobias Setz. He is proud that he and his business partner have always been able to fill all training positions. What’s more: there are even more applications than there are places at all. Actually a rarity in the industry, especially in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where there is a high density of craft businesses.
“But you have to mention that we were present in the schools at job fairs from day one and have always lived a friendlier corporate culture in the company than we both experienced in our training companies,” says Setz.
Master school in view
Despite the lack of skilled workers, Setz is optimistic about the future. “I’m assuming that the comfortable situation on the job market will be noticed by the next graduating classes and that more training positions will be filled as a result,” says the master roofer. But: “It’s very clear to me: Those companies that now stick to old conventions and don’t get involved in the interests of the next generations will be left behind in the foreseeable future.”
Luke Wübbe has recently even been trained to become a so-called training ambassador. Starting in the summer, he will be visiting schools to get other students interested in the roofing trade. And he also has plans for his own future: “If you’re hungry for a craft, then you want more. Then you want to go to master school.”