Fachkräftesicherung – Zukunftsweisende Qualifizierung, gesellschaftliche Teilhabe und Integration durch berufliche Bildung

The shortage of skilled workers and the need for sustainability-related transformations of enterprise performance processes represent two of the central challenges for economic segments and the companies included in them, both now and in the future. As personnel-intensive economic units, craft enterprises in particular are at risk as a result of the shortage. At the same time, according to public perception, sustainability is becoming increasingly important, especially among young people, with future skilled workers developing from this group. Connecting these two trends appears promising from the perspective of attracting skilled workers, provided that the target group actually attaches great importance to sustainability and also incorporates it as a guiding principle when making profession-related decisions. The aim of the study was to investigate the attitudes of potential apprentices in craft toward sustainability in general and the triad of sustainability (ecological, economic, social) in particular with regard to the choice of training company. For this purpose, mixed-methods surveys consisting of an item survey in combination with small group discussions were conducted in four classes of higher vocational schools with a technical focus and among students. This paper first presents the survey design and its results. Subsequently, communication potentials for sustainability-related addressing of potential skilled workers and resulting lines of action for the recruitment of skilled workers for craft enterprises will be shown. It will be shown that advertising with corporate sustainability as an end in itself does not appear to be very promising, but that specific aspects of sustainability do overlap with the expectations and aspirations of the target group.