Statistically proven: Apprenticeships offer the most promising careers

In a special evaluation, the Austrian Statistics examined the career progression of 511,000 teaching graduates between 2008 and 2020. “The study impressively demonstrates how essential apprenticeship training is for the Austrian labor market and business location,” commented Mariana Kühneldeputy Secretary General of the WKÖ, the results: “In Austria, dual training is clearly the mainstay of practical professional qualification, for which we are the envy of the world. Especially in view of the shortage of skilled workers, the training provided by companies is becoming increasingly important. For many years, around 40 percent of 15-year-olds in each year group have reliably benefited from this: The fact that an apprenticeship enables the most promising and future-proof employment careers is now also proven by figures.” This is also underlined by the results of a current survey by the WKÖ, carried out by market : “Almost 80 percent of apprentices say that the shortage of skilled workers has made apprenticeships even more important,” says Kühnel.

The Statistics Austria survey confirms:

• The teaching allows you to do so at a distance quickest job entry all forms of training: Since the majority of trainees are taken on by their training companies, it only takes a median of 1.3 months to start their first job. With AHS qualifications, starting your career takes around 4.5 months.
• Die Earning opportunities are particularly attractive: one and a half years after completing their apprenticeships, apprentices earned a median gross salary of 2,418 euros, more than after completing BHS (2,386 euros), BMS (2,206 euros) or AHS (1,905 euros).
• A teaching offers high Job security: Four out of five graduates (79 percent) of an apprenticeship are in employment 18 months after completing their apprenticeship. The value is only exceeded by BHS graduates (84 percent); the proportion is lower for other forms of training (BMS: 73 percent, AHS 36 percent).
• This is becoming more and more common Dual training combined with Matura (Apprenticeship with Matura, Dual Academy): The number of people with a Matura or Matura level has increased significantly from 3.8 (2008) to 8.6 percent (2020).
• The starting age of apprentices is increasing: apprenticeships are most often completed between the ages of 17 and 19 (57.9 percent). However, almost a quarter of the graduates were 20 to 24 years old, and almost a fifth were 25 years old or older.
• Gender differences The choice of the preferred apprenticeship profession still exists, but something has started to change here: more and more young men and women are opting for apprenticeship careers off the beaten path.

“Companies’ investments in our skilled workers of the future have enormous value – for securing the location, for a stable labor market and also for individual careers,” says Kühnel. “The fact that there are more and more older apprentices and also more apprentices with a high school diploma shows that dual training is not only attractive as initial training, but also as an option for improving the qualifications of young people in a second attempt or as a practical ideal route to a quick career entry for those changing careers: Kühnel concludes that this is an important starting point for setting up career information even more precisely in the future and improving the “matching” of apprenticeship supply and demand. (PWK361/HSP)