The Linamar Powertrain company recently hired 13 new toolmakers at its location in Crimmitschau, Saxony.

Not like that, of course: These are formerly unskilled and semi-skilled employees who have been trained step by step over five years to become specialists and finally passed the final examination at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

At the end of February they received their skilled worker certificate.

Britta Beeger

Editor in Business.

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The German economy hopes that, as in Crimmitschau, even more people will soon receive further training through partial qualifications.

These usually last two to six months and are considered a low-threshold offer, especially for the low-skilled.

A new study by researchers at Freie Universität Berlin commissioned by the Bertelsmann Foundation also suggests that this form of modular training is a good idea.

As Timm Bönke, Dominik Hügle and Luisa Hammer found out, a partial qualification opens up similar employment opportunities as complete retraining for another profession - although the latter usually takes two years and is more expensive.

The study is available to the FAZ in advance.

"Requested by companies"

Based on special evaluations of the funding statistics of the Federal Employment Agency, the scientists show that participants with partial qualifications find employment subject to social security contributions just as quickly as participants in retraining.

Even after two years, the rates are almost the same, each at over 70 percent in the area of ​​unemployment insurance and over 40 percent in basic security.

There are major differences between the various groups of participants: people with a vocational qualification are more likely to take up employment that is subject to social security contributions than people without a vocational qualification.

Those who were not previously unemployed are more likely to find work than those who were unemployed.

In order to complete the picture, the employment rates of some groups of participants are quite disappointing, especially in the area of ​​basic social security.

This also applies equally to partial qualifications and retraining.

The study does not break down the qualification level at which people work.

In the opinion of the Bertelsmann Foundation, partial qualifications should be given even more of a focus in further education policy.

"They are in demand by companies, can be acquired quickly, lead to a successful start to a job and - step by step - flexibly to a full professional qualification," says further education specialist Roman Wink.

In addition, due to the tense financial situation, it is necessary to concentrate the training budget on particularly efficient measures.

According to the authors, a partial qualification costs an average of 5,000 to 9,000 euros per participant, depending on the target occupation, and retraining costs 25,000 to 40,000 euros.

In practice, partial qualifications have so far played a subordinate role, although the number of participants is growing rapidly: it has tripled from around 5,000 in 2010 to around 15,000 in 2020.

However, between 30,000 and 50,000 participants attend retraining courses at an educational institution every year.

In order to advance the model and ensure quality, the employers' associations and the business training institutes are jointly developing uniform standards for partial qualifications, which ultimately lead to a recognized professional qualification such as mechatronics technician or office clerk.

A similar goal is being pursued by the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce initiative “Using Opportunities”, which is also funded by the Federal Ministry of Education as part of the national continuing education strategy.