Data from Skills2Capabilities WP7 Interviews in Germany

1 Co-funded by the European Union Table of Contents Interview Summary: Development and Impact of Germany’s youth employment agencies (Jugendberufsagenturen) .............................................................. 2 Interview Summary: Visit to a youth employment agency (Jugendberufsagentur) in the Southwest of Germany ..................... 4 Interview Summary: Expert on the topic of training ambassadors I (Ausbildungsbotschafter) ................................................................ 5 Interview Summary: Expert on the topic of training ambassadors II (Ausbildungsbotschafter) ................................................................ 7 Daniel Neff & Isabelle Le Mouillour (BIBB) Jule Rocholl & Lorenza Schlumbom (TU Dortmund) 2 Co-funded by the European Union Interview Summary: Development and Impact of Germany’s youth employment agencies (Jugendberufsagenturen) Identifier: I01 Interview Type: Expert interview (anonymized) Date of Interview: 08/04/2025 Location: Online via Zoom Interviewee Role/Position: Research assistant (Exact role anonymized for data protection) Conducted by: Daniel Neff, Jule Rocholl and Lorenza Schlumbom Language: German (interview); English (summary) Summary This interview provides insights into the practical work of youth employment agencies (Jugendberufsagenturen). Youth employment agencies have been developing since 2010. Most agencies were founded between 2016 and 2018. Up to now, approximately 370 agencies have been established in Germany and their number is still growing, meaning that there is a youth career agency in almost all 400 municipalities in Germany. The overarching task is to create a regional transition management system that accompanies and supports young people in their transition from school to work. 19.1 percent of 20-34-year-olds in Germany have no professional qualifications, meaning that this proportion ends up in the low-wage sector. The principle of regional transition management has been in place since 2010 and is understood as cross-jurisdictional cooperation between various institutions such as the Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit), the Job Center (Jobcenter), and youth welfare services (Jugendhilfe). The practical work with young people therefore takes place at the municipal level, with the relevant (legal) structures being created at the state and federal levels. One challenge lies in organizing and structuring the work of the various network partners. Their heterogeneity is reflected in the quality of their work, their commitment, their respective interests, and their financial and human resources. However, these differences in municipal structure are typical for Germany. These varying conditions require a high degree of cooperation and willingness to compromise on the part of all stakeholders. 3 Co-funded by the European Union Nevertheless, multi-professional work at the municipal level offers a number of advantages, as the support services available at the municipal level are more individually tailored than those at the federal level. This means that the work is less standardized. Overall, it is important to consider the overall concept when implementing the program, realizing major goals for the municipalities in conjunction with a systematic transition plan in order to provide holistic support for young people. After the regional transition management programs were introduced and the youth employment agencies were subsequently established, a coalition agreement was reached that regulates the training place guarantee. In cases where in-company training cannot take place due to municipal obstacles, an external training place can be created. However, the Youth Employment Agencies are not provided for in the Training Guarantee Act. An international comparison shows that France has a similar structure, namely the Mission Locale. Austria also has a training guarantee, which was used as a model for Germany. However, implementation naturally depends on the structure of the dual system within the country. In Spain, for example, there is no differentiated service structure, but access to young people is worth emulating. This is crucial in order to offer young people long-term support that meets their interests and wishes. 4 Co-funded by the European Union Interview Summary: Visit to a youth employment agency (Jugendberufsagentur) in the Southwest of Germany Identifier: I02 Interview Type: Site visit youth career employment and expert interview (anonymized) Date of Interview: 28/04/2025 Location: On-Site Interviewee Role/Position: Research assistant (Exact role anonymized for data protection) Conducted by: Daniel Neff Language: German (interview); English (summary) Summary The researcher had the chance to visit a youth employment agency in a town in the Southwest of Germany and engage with the manager of the agency. With the impressions from the first interview an open discussion about the specific working of the particular agency, the advantages and disadvantages of the agencies in general and the particular obstacles in the daily working of the agency took place and the researcher took some notes. Before the visit, the researcher shared a summary of the findings from the first interview as well as the insights from the review of the literature on youth employment agencies. The discussion was thus also used to triangulate the findings and to gain insights into the practical working of a youth employment agency. In the interview, the specific set-up of the particular youth employment agency in the town was highlighted. A specificity was the existence of a responsible person for the agency which was not a employee of any of the three stakeholders, but of the city itself and thus more independent and mediating. Moreover, the tour of the agency showed, how easily young people can access their services and how the agency also actively approaches young people which are difficult to reach, to offer their services. It became clear, that the demand for support has risen dramatically, so that the agency – due to institutional constraints – could mainly concentrate on the “hard” cases, and had limited capacity to reaching out to a larger number of young people. 5 Co-funded by the European Union Interview Summary: Expert on the topic of training ambassadors I (Ausbildungsbotschafter) Identifier: I03 Interview Type: Expert interview (anonymized) Date of Interview: 08/04/2025 Location: Online via Zoom Interviewee Role/Position: Employee (Exact role anonymized for data protection) Conducted by: Daniel Neff and Isabelle Le Mouillour Language: German (interview); English (summary) Summary This interview looks at the evaluation of the training ambassador program. This program helps young people figure out what they want to do for a living, gets them more interested in different apprenticeships, and broadens their horizons. Unlike other career guidance programs, the training ambassador program goes beyond providing information and social support to help young people connect with their future jobs. They act as role-models, which interact with students at eye-level, thus potentially having a higher impact. The program also has the advantage of bringing professions that are less in demand, such as food sales assistants, more into focus among young people. There are also some professions that are hardly known by young people in schools, such as those in the field of production technology. Accordingly, the training ambassadors help to raise awareness of these professions. The recruitment of training ambassadors depends heavily on the interests and budgets of the chambers. However, trainees are also recruited through member companies. The chambers then train the trainees before they are deployed in schools. They also decide how the trainees will be deployed, whether they will be alone in a class, how much time they will have available, etc. Where possible, the training ambassadors are divided into heterogeneous groups so that someone from the commercial sector and someone from production participate. It is important that they are accompanied and have completed training for their presentation, including feedback, beforehand. However, a major problem is that the financing is not sustainable, meaning that the Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Chamber of Crafts co-finance the program and it is then supplemented by other programs. 6 Co-funded by the European Union The intrinsic motivation of trainees to choose a particular profession is a special aspect that schools focus on. However, key aspects of the training program should also be presented, such as the requirements and the application process. The training ambassadors learn social skills and consolidate their presentation and public speaking techniques. During the presentations, an interactive setting is created in which students can ask questions. This means that both the students and the trainees benefit from this project. The companies also benefit from this program, as it raises their profile. For the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, recruiting and organizing the placements is very timeconsuming. High schools have a lower willingness to participate, as the students there are more focused on studying. Nevertheless, they could also benefit from the program, given the dropout rates in Germany. In this context, students can also be persuaded to pursue vocational or dual training, which is sometimes considered equivalent to a corresponding degree program. In contrast, there is great interest in this program among secondary schools. The importance of parents in career orientation should also be emphasized. In order to integrate them more into the process, training ambassadors could, for example, participate in parent-teacher conferences. Special schools are not involved in the program. The program is also considered transferable to other countries. In Switzerland, for example, a similar project is being implemented. However, for future implementation in Germany, it is important that the implementation and training are brought together in order to facilitate the exchange of experience and create uniformity in the various areas of application. In addition, long-term financing should be sought. The perspective of researchers should also be taken into account to a greater extent, both for the further development of the project and for cooperation between practice and science. 7 Co-funded by the European Union Interview Summary: Expert on the topic of training ambassadors II (Ausbildungsbotschafter) Identifier: I04 Interview Type: Expert interview (anonymized) Date of Interview: 15/04/2025 Location: Online via Zoom Interviewee Role/Position: Chamber employee (Exact role anonymized for data protection) Conducted by: Daniel Neff, Jule Rocholl and Lorenza Schlumbom Language: German (interview); English (summary) Summary This interview focuses on the opportunities and challenges of the training ambassador program (Ausbildungsbotschafter), which has been running in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) for 10 years. The training ambassadors are trainees from various companies and industries who give secondary school students a practical presentation of their chosen profession. Specifically, the trainees talk about their choice of training, career orientation, and their everyday working life. The program is run by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK), which implements various career orientation projects. The state of Baden-Württemberg was the first state in Germany to launch the program, two to three years before NRW. Currently, the state of NRW has approximately 550 active training ambassadors. Each year, the training ambassadors visit schools on approximately 100 occasions. However, these visits vary from year to year. Most schools invite the training ambassadors for several years in a row. The ambassadors mainly visit ninth and tenth grade classes, but rarely visit upper secondary school classes. High schools tend to participate less in this program than secondary schools. The presentation of the various apprenticeship occupations lasts two school hours. Before visiting the school, the coordinators ensure that the training ambassadors represent a diverse group. Consequently, commercial professions are presented alongside industrial and technical apprenticeships. In male-dominated professions, it is also welcome for a female training ambassador to present the apprenticeship in order to break down prejudices. Among other things, the visit serves to break down prejudices about a profession, develop an understanding of the profession over the years, and increase knowledge. 8 Co-funded by the European Union In this context, it is important to emphasize that the training program provides an authentic and practical insight into the respective profession. Neither the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, nor the companies or schools specify a fixed concept. The training ambassadors decide independently what content they want to present to the students. However, great importance is attached to training the training ambassadors in advance of a visit in order to prepare them adequately. The companies participating in this program benefit greatly from the project, as it raises their profile in the local area and makes it easier for them to recruit new trainees. Around 200 companies regularly participate with their training ambassadors. Evaluating this program poses a minor challenge, as although short-term positive effects can be observed, the long-term effects are difficult to assess. Another challenge is the integration of parents. The Chamber of Industry and Commerce offers (online) parents' evenings, in multiple languages where necessary, to involve parents more closely in the career orientation process. However, parents often ignore their children's wishes and already have a fixed idea of their children's future careers, from which they do not deviate. So far, this program has been co-financed by the state until the end of the year. An extension of this is still pending. However, work on this program will continue even without such funding. At the same time, staff shortages are an ongoing problem. If the Chamber of Industry and Commerce wanted to expand the program, it would need more staff. Furthermore, this career orientation program is not being implemented nationwide. It will probably take several years to establish such a program in the many chamber areas.