Companies are currently training the same number of students as in October 2019, at the same time there are slightly fewer students in intercompany apprenticeship training. After a slump in the number of students during the Corona period, development is “very good again,” said Minister of Labor and Economy Martin Kocher (ÖVP) on Thursday. This will also become clear with the trainees this year.
At the end of October, Austrian companies were training 102,343 students, 32,405 of whom were in first grade. For beginners, this means an increase of 7.8 percent compared to last year. Another 6,224 young people followed intercompany apprenticeship training in October, of which 3,175 in the first year. There was a significant decline in this training path compared to last year.
Overall, there were more students this year in all states than in 2021. Kocher expects the positive trend among students to continue as there is a high willingness to train people in many areas.
More money for education
The ministry will also increase funding for education in 2023 compared to 2022 by 40 million euros to 270 million euros, Kocher announced. Of this, 173 million euros is intended as basic financing for the adoption of a learning income: three months of income in the first year, two months in the second and one month in the third or possibly fourth year. EUR 43 million is provided for support services such as preparatory training or catching up on general education, and another EUR 48 million for any reimbursement of boarding school costs.
In addition, there is the “Digi-Scheck”, extended until 2024 and worth 5 million euros, which supports the acquisition of additional skills such as IT skills.
Popularity of individual professions unchanged
While there were more apprentices in all sectors, the largest influx was in “Banking and Insurance” and “Information and Advice”, each with a third more apprentices, closely followed by tourism, where a quarter more people than in 2021 started their training. But there was also an 18 percent increase in industry apprenticeships. Structurally, however, Corona has not fundamentally changed the popularity of individual apprenticeships.
Source: Krone
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