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Education and the Labour Market

The research activities focus, on the one hand, on vocational orientation, vocational and educational aspirations, and post-school educational decisions that are relevant for the transition from school to vocational training, academic studies, or the labour market. Both transitions from training programmes and transitions from the regular education system are considered.

On the other hand, the IAB analyses the framework conditions and effects of continuing education and training. This includes not only the retrospective acquisition of formal education and vocational qualifications but also non-formal and informal continuing education and training. The importance of continuing vocational training in the context of technological change at the company- and individual level will also be examined.

The effects of institutional changes or of measures taken by the Federal Employment Agency play an important role. These include, for example, measures to provide vocational guidance to pupils or the promotion of continuing vocational training.

The Research has unique datasets at its disposal: in addition to administrative data, survey data such as the National Education Panel (Nationales Bildungspanel), the IAB Establishment Panel (IAB-Betriebspanel) or specially collected data such as that of the study on the vocational orientation of pupils form the basis for analysis.

All articles for: Education and the Labour Market

Training situation for call center employees: two women and a man are sitting in front of their computers with headsets. A man in a shirt stands behind the man with the headset and points at his monitor. Everyone looks friendly.
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April 22, 2025 | Education and the Labour Market

Artificial intelligence in the workplace: insights into the transformation of customer services

Simon Janssen, Michael Stops, Sanne Steens, Pelin Özgül, Nicholas Rounding, Sander Dijksman, Raymond Montizaan, Mark Levels, Didier Fourage, Danique Eijkenboom, Evie Graus, Marie-Christine Fregin

How does the use of artificial intelligence in training affect employee productivity? These and other questions were investigated as part of the long-term... Read more

Frauen und Männer sitzen an Tischen, angeordnet wie in einer Schule. Ein Mann hebt seine Hand, um sich zu melden.
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October 16, 2024 | Education and the Labour Market

Who is most open to lifelong learning? Exploring the role of personality traits and skills

Agata Danuta Galkiewicz, Jana Kern

Due to structural changes in the labour market, the importance of lifelong learning has become increasingly apparent. However, employees in different skill groups... Read more

Two men and a woman, all wearing high-visibility waistcoats, are standing in a modern wind farm and planing a project.
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June 12, 2024 | Digital and ecological transformation

Vocational training: Occupations with green skills are in high demand

Udo Brixy, Markus Janser, Andreas Mense

Tackling the climate crisis requires a restructuring of the economy, which increases the demand for particular skills. In Germany, this increased demand is... Read more

Adult men and women of different ages each sit at a desk in a training room and work with headsets on their laptops.
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February 21, 2024 | Education and the Labour Market

Adult lifelong learning: Cross-country comparison with a focus on Germany

Teresa Sophie Friedrich, Agata Danuta Galkiewicz

In the modern and highly digitalised world constant updating one’s qualifications seems inevitable. Thus the importance of lifelong education has been increasing. Despite... Read more

A young woman with dark hair and dark eyes sits, wearing a sleeveless blouse sits at a desk in an office.
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December 1, 2022 | Education and the Labour Market

Vocational training in Ukraine – an overview

Franziska Schreyer, Silke Anger, Tim-Felix Grabert, Olena Martyniuk

The longer Ukrainian refugees stay in their receiving countries, the more urgent questions about their integration into the local labour markets become. In... Read more