Fewer applicants and vacancies
The Mainz employment agency registered about 2,700 applicants during the latest career counseling year, down 150 from the previous period, agency head Heike Strack said. Employers reported 3,150 training positions, a decline of 660. Nearly 220 positions remain open.
Strack presented the assessment with Karina Szwede, managing director of the IHK für Rheinhessen, the regional chamber of commerce and industry, and Anja Obermann, managing director of the Handwerkskammer Rheinhessen, the chamber of skilled crafts. Against a backdrop of several years of economic weakness, all three said occupations and the content of vocational training were changing at an accelerating pace.
Office, retail and technical trades draw apprentices
Szwede described new contracts in the IHK's area as broadly stable. Of the 1,826 agreements, 175 were for office management clerks, 149 for salespeople and 139 for retail clerks. Companies that could not fill all their training places told the chamber they had been unable to find suitable applicants.
Among skilled trades, automotive mechatronics again attracted strong interest, with 181 contracts. Training for plumbing, heating and air-conditioning systems mechanics followed with 160. Obermann said the trades were benefiting from a steadily improving image, and bricklaying in particular recorded a considerable increase in contracts.
The previous joint assessment, published on October 31, 2025, put new IHK contracts at 1,846 as of September 30 that year, about 120 fewer than a year earlier. The chamber nevertheless had a broadly stable total of 4,806 apprentices, only slightly below the preceding year's figure. The crafts chamber reported 944 young people beginning apprenticeships in craft businesses.
National figures show fewer applicants entering training
Across Germany, reported demand moved closer to the number of company-based training offers. In its national 2025/26 training market assessment, presented on October 30, 2026, the Bundesagentur für Arbeit reported 469,000 positions registered with employment agencies and job centers between October 2025 and September 2026. These included 453,000 company-based offers, down 31,000 from the previous reporting year.
Meanwhile, 447,000 applicants used the placement service, an increase of 3,000. That brought the ratio to 99 reported applicants for every 100 reported company-based positions, compared with 92 a year earlier, leaving reported supply and demand almost balanced.
By the end of September 2026, however, 179,000 applicants had begun vocational training, 12,000 fewer than a year earlier. That represented 40 percent of applicants, which the agency described as the lowest share since German reunification. Another 46,000 applicants remained unplaced, up 6,000 and equivalent to 10 percent of reported applicants. At the same time, 48,000 training positions were still vacant, down 8,000.
Reaching young people outside training and work
Locally, the agency and both chambers identified a particular challenge in supporting roughly 2,270 unemployed people age 24 and younger who are neither in vocational training nor studying. Some lack a school-leaving qualification, and 74 percent have no vocational qualification. Strack emphasized the need to counter a lack of prospects and reconnect with young people who have disengaged completely. Those who leave university without finishing also need intensive counseling.
Career counselors are also hearing from many young people who want to become influencers. Strack said advisers take that ambition seriously while explaining the realities of the work. Digital media can also encourage interest in established occupations: the popularity of chefs demonstrating their skills online has prompted many young people to consider training as cooks.
AI concerns and routes into an apprenticeship
Artificial intelligence matters to young people making career choices, although its effects remain partly difficult to assess, the three officials agreed. Obermann said some work, such as installing technical equipment, was not yet threatened by AI. The perception that these jobs are not at risk is itself benefiting the skilled trades, she said.
Strack pointed to the automotive sector as an example of how occupations evolve over extended periods rather than changing overnight.
For those still weighing their options, the three officials recommended a solid vocational education as the best route to a secure career and suggested internships to explore several occupations. They also stressed that an apprenticeship can begin practically year-round.
