Germany's Apprenticeship System Hits Historic Low as Minimum Wage Lifts Millions
Published on 06/18/2026 at 11:13 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Only 19 percent of German companies are still offering apprenticeships — the lowest figure ever recorded, according to the latest National Education Report published June 17 by the SOFI research institute. That stark finding comes as wage data released the same week shows that a jump in the statutory minimum wage to €13.90 per hour is lifting pay for roughly 4.8 million workers nationwide, or about 12 percent of all jobs.
The dual-training model, long a pillar of Germany's labour market, is under severe strain. In 2025 just 95 apprenticeship positions were available for every 100 applicants. Nearly one in three such training contracts ended prematurely. At the same time, the school-based vocational system hit a record 233,000 new entrants — signalling a shift away from the workplace route. In response, business groups and the federal government launched the "Alliance for Vocational and Continuing Education 2026–2029" in June, focusing on basic skills and career orientation in upper-secondary schools.
Low earners see biggest nominal gains
While the training picture darkens, the minimum wage increase that took effect January 1 is having a clear impact on low-paid workers in northern Germany. The Statistical Office for Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein reported on June 17 that real wages in Hamburg rose 1.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, and in Schleswig-Holstein by 2.3 percent. Apprentices in Hamburg saw nominal pay jump 6.6 percent. The top beneficiary group: the bottom 20 percent of full-time employees, whose nominal earnings rose 9.8 percent.
In Hesse, the state statistics office said on June 18 that roughly 363,000 jobs — 11 percent of all employment in the state — are directly affected by the new minimum wage. Women are disproportionately represented: 13 percent of female workers earn at or near the floor, compared with 10 percent of men. The mini-job threshold rose to €603 a month in step with the higher minimum wage, giving marginal part-time workers in Hamburg a 3.9 percent pay boost.
Better pay hasn't fixed training's appeal
Even with fatter pay cheques for apprentices — the AOK health insurer agreed in June to raise its apprentice allowances by €80 on January 1, 2026 and again on April 1, 2027, plus a promise of permanent hiring afterwards — the system's structural problems persist. Industrial unions and chambers of commerce are trying new approaches: from mid-2026, IG Metall and the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) are co-funding AI-related add-on qualifications for apprentices, aimed at boosting data literacy in small and medium enterprises.
There are glimmers of a broader intake. North Rhine-Westphalia signed 16,164 new apprenticeship contracts with foreign nationals in 2025 — nearly double the number from a decade ago, with most trainees coming from Ukraine and Syria. Meanwhile, the Central Association of the German Electrical and Information Technology Trades (ZVEH) released a modular partial-qualification package for the energy and building-technology sector in June, designed for career changers over the age of 25 and able to lead all the way to a skilled-worker certificate.
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