Given demographic changes and the consequent lack of qualified manpower, the most must be made of all the potential offered by training. For training institutions, this also means identifying target groups they have not previously considered in their search for training candidates.
The social partners (HDB, ZDB, IG BAU) therefore launched the joint "Berufsstart Bau” project in 2013, funded from contributions to the professional training scheme (an allocation system of the building sector to which all construction firms are required to contribute). This has enabled the sector to provide an opportunity to applicants who, for various reasons (apprenticeship difficulties, educational or social deficits, etc.), are not immediately eligible for a training course and therefore do not have direct access to continuous training. Thanks to initiatives lasting six to twelve months, applicants are prepared to follow in-company training or a programme in construction sector inter-company training centres and receive social and educational support. Based on this concept, a contract is concluded between the firm and the applicant which guarantees the latter the possibility of taking part in a training course at the end of the preparation programme. At least half of the initiatives take place in-company. To ensure adequate correspondence and identify any problems the participants may have, a two-week induction period is included at the start of the process. As part of this, applicants spend two days directly in a firm. The project covers the whole of Germany. More than 200 applicants have already been able to take part in the first cycle.