The Bertelsmann Foundation’s ‘Training Prospects’ report for 2025 (Ausbildungsperspektiven) reveals that 26% of students (22% in 2024) prefer to start working straight after leaving school. This desire is particularly prevalent among young people leaving lower-level schools (Hauptschule). “They prefer to forego training in order to take up a job that does not require formal qualifications,” confirmed experts from the Bertelsmann Foundation on Wednesday 16 July in Gütersloh, during the presentation of the survey, which covered 1,755 young people aged 14 to 25, including 257 face-to-face interviews. The trend is a growing one: while 43% of the pupils surveyed (45% in 2024) plan to pursue training, 45% (33%) do not know which path they will choose.
The size of the allowances paid, considered by many to be insufficient, seems to be one of the reasons for this trend.
As a Berlin correspondent for the French and Swiss press since the late 1990s, I cover a wide range of economic, political and social issues, with a particular focus on the German business and labour market. My areas of interest include co-determination, digitalisation, demographics and ESG/DEI policies.