2024-08-27 14:26:53
Marko Fischer, president of the Social Democratic Business Association Vienna (SWV), and tourism expert Bernd Hinteregger called for a comprehensive modernization of teaching. Apprenticeship numbers are still plummeting. The tourism industry suffered the largest decline, a press conference on Wednesday said. The tourism industry has experienced its worst decline in 15 years.
Data show that the number of training companies reached a long-term low in 2023, with the number of apprentices falling from 27,280 to 27,083. Fisher said: “Teaching is vital to the economy, but the shortage of skilled workers is falling sharply and we must respond.” Hinteregger highlighted the serious situation in the tourism industry: “In 2008, the number of apprentices was just under 15,000, and now it is close to 15,000.” 7,500 – and in the long term the number of apprentices will be around 20,000 again.”
To make teaching more attractive, Hinteregger recommends a mandatory two-week internship in ninth grade. This will make young people aware of the possibilities of apprenticeships. Holiday vouchers can serve as an incentive. Creative political approaches are needed.
Hinteregger also suggested setting up a pool of travel apprenticeships, “which would make it possible to ‘switch’ between companies during the apprenticeship but still be employed by the same company.”
Fischer believed that teaching in Austria was in urgent need of modernization. We need more flexible training options that adapt to the requirements of today’s and tomorrow’s world of work. Curriculum should also adapt more quickly and continuously to technological developments and new work situations.
Both men emphasized the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): “We must also ensure that SMEs are motivated,” Hinteregger said. They train most apprentices but would be at a disadvantage if they were poached by larger companies.
SWV Vienna calls on the government to listen to entrepreneurial ideas to address the shortage of skilled workers. “Teaching must be a subject,” Hinteregger emphasizes. It must have its own national secretariat or ministry “so that it can truly have priority”. In recent years, this issue has not received enough attention. “We waited until the hat was burned.”
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