Mannheim (dpa / lsw) - Loud, dirty, physically demanding - this is how many parents and their children imagine the training occupations in trade, industry and trade, according to associations. In the age of digitization and the high demand for specialists in IT and environmental technology, this is a cliché, said the President of the Rhein-Neckar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK), Manfred Schnabel, on Monday. Shortly before the start of the training year in September, there are currently 4,000 vacant apprenticeships in the chamber district. "Give yourself a jerk, apply now," he called out to the young people in Mannheim.
According to Schnabel, a change in awareness in schools and society is essential in order to bring supply and demand back into balance. In the grammar schools in particular, he sees little commitment to showing young people alternatives to studying. It is regrettable that hardly any teachers have seen a company from the inside. From politics he demands an end to the discussion about conscription, a mandatory year of service to society after school. The companies would thus lose a complete training year.
