Making coffee, cleaning: trainees are increasingly having to do tasks that are not part of their job. What are the reasons for this?
When I visited a trainee at a solar energy company last year, I was astonished. Instead of a solar system, she was assembling an Ikea cupboard. When I asked why, she said: “Typical trainee work.” In fact, more and more trainees in Germany are doing this, according to a survey.
Number of trainees who have to perform activities outside their training reaches “peak”
Just over one in six trainees (15.3 percent) have to “always” or “often” complete tasks that are clearly not part of their training. This is shown by the annual training report, which was presented on August 22 by the youth organization of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB-Jugend) and the DGB in Frankfurt.
More than 10,000 trainees in the 25 most common training occupations were surveyed. Compared to 2022, the number of trainees who have to perform activities outside of their training has increased by 2.6 percentage points. A “new high,” the report says.
Chefs require their trainees to make coffee and clean
The activities outside of the training are low-skilled tasks or routine tasks. “Since my first year of training, I have been constantly given tasks that have nothing to do with my training,” writes a former draftswoman in the DGB Youth's online advice forum “Dr. Azubi”. “Cleaning construction vehicles, cleaning mobile homes, constantly taking out the garbage, watering plants, making coffee,” she lists.
If she forgets a task, she receives a “punishment” from her boss. For example, she forgot to take the garbage out several times. Her boss then forced her to take the garbage home or to find a way to get rid of it.
DGB Federal Youth Secretary explains why companies demand non-training-related activities
How can it be that in 2024 such conditions prevail in the treatment of trainees? This shows the hypocrisy of the companies, says Kristof Becker, Federal Youth Secretary of the DGB. “When they find people who want to do an apprenticeship, they abuse them illegally as cheap labor,” says Becker at a press conference on August 22nd in response to a question from BuzzFeed News Germany from IPPEN.MEDIA.
At the same time, “the outcry of employers” who cannot find trainees is getting louder and louder. “That doesn't add up,” says Becker in view of the growing shortage of skilled workers. He demands that employers “finally abide by the law and train their future skilled workers well.”
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Painter apprentices are most affected by the problem
Not all sectors are equally affected: Almost 38 percent of prospective painters and varnishers often have to perform work that is not part of their training. This is followed by hairdressers in training (29.7 percent). In contrast, most future bank employees are spared (only around six percent). Trainees are also more likely to be affected if they work in larger companies than in smaller ones.
According to the DGB Youth, the problem is that the trainees do not learn anything from their work. Important training content has been eliminated because there is no time for it. The trainees have to catch up later with overtime or do not learn it at all, the report says.
The DGB Youth is therefore calling for constant checks in training companies, for example by chambers. If the positions currently available are not sufficient, independent control bodies should be created. In serious cases, the trade union federation considers it necessary to impose sanctions. For example, trainers could be stripped of their training authorization.
