Apprenticeship Skills Pay Off on the Labor Market
Christina Langer, Jakob Peiffer, Simon Wiederhold
Reference
EconPol Forum 24 (6), 39-43
Abstract
- Apprenticeship plans provide the basis for reliably and comprehensively classifying the skills of a large share of Germany’s workforce
- In total, we classify more than 13,000 different skills and the duration of learning each skill based on the apprenticeship plans
- Workers who have acquired higher cognitive, social, or digital skills during their apprenticeship earn higher wages in the short and long term
- In particular, the value of digital skills has risen sharply since the 1990s, parallel to the increasing use of computers in the workplace
- The speed at which apprenticeship plans are modernized is crucial for how well the German apprenticeship system can prepare its graduates for the future labor market