When It Is Worth Changing

For the specialised workforce, a new successful professional start is not only financially profitable, it also extends working time. According to the study, employees who start out at a job closely associated with their previous job spend an average of 6.2 days a year working more than those who go to a job completely unconnected to their previous job.

Helpers often find no way to advance or pay better

According to analysis, it's above all those who work as “aid” who are in disadvantages. This term refers to the level of one person's employment, explained Roman Wink, author of the study. This relief activity does not require professional training. They are often people with poor qualifications - without professional qualifications. But professional education can also help.

According to data, more than eleven percent of these employees change jobs each year, compared with only seven percent of the specialized workforce. In addition, relief workers work twice as often in a profession that is new to them as employees with more qualified jobs. In case of “yob hopping”, they should be more oriented towards job market demand than to their existing capabilities and therefore should always be requalify. That's why performing partial qualifications until receiving a professional degree is “a significant levee”, according to the Bertelsmann Foundation.

Women at a disadvantage when they change their jobs

Besides, women are at the most disadvantage when they change their profession. Even for them, professional formation certainly improves advantage opportunities, but cannot eliminate disadvantages in gender comparison. Qualified males switch successfully from expert status to 82 percent of the workplace changes, while women only 77 percent. Moreover, even with training, the risk associated with women leaving a qualified job is higher for women (13%) than for men (9%).

Skills Must Be More Manifest

The biggest participation in the labour market is a crucial factor in dealing with the lack of qualified workforce, noted Tobias Ortmann, a labour market expert in the foundation. When change succeeds, it is also a benefit to employers. The study noted that low-skilled people and assistants in most cases have operational skills, even if these cannot be officially confirmed by certificates. That's why it's necessary to establish procedures to make skills visible.

Last week, an analysis of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) found that one in six professions in Germany suffered from lack of qualified workforce. Last year, 200 out of about 1200 valued professions experienced a lack of qualified workforce - 52 more than in 2021. Thus, the number of unemployed professions reached a new record.

According to Federal Employment Agency data, the most affected professions by the lack of qualified workforce are care professions, professional drivers, medical assistants, construction professions and artisans, educators, auto technology and information technique professions. /dw