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Working and ageing
56 Guidance and counselling for mature learners

3.5.1. Training participation of older workers in Germany –
Results from CVTS3
Continuing vocational training is an important part of lifelong learning and is,
therefore, of great importance for policy, the economy, society and all
individuals. It is central for maintaining, broadening and updating the
qualifications required by employees and is necessary to maintain
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competitiveness of enterprises. A core aim of the CVTS3 ( ) is to examine
how continuing vocational training is practised by enterprises in Europe. The
findings indicate that it is stagnating in Germany and is even on the decline in
some cases. Compared to other European countries, Germany continues to
rank no higher than midfield and compared to European countries with similar
socioeconomic structures, Germany actually trails northern and western
European countries. In Germany, fewer enterprises offered their employees
continuing vocational training in 2005 than in 1999, and fewer employees in
all enterprises participated in continuing training. However, those enterprises
that provided continuing vocational training courses trained more employees
and also made more learning time available per participant. Despite this,
enterprises invested nominally less overall in continuing training per
participant, which was particularly evident in the amount of direct expenditure
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on courses ( ) (Behringer et al., 2008).
For the first time since its start, CVTS3 collected European-wide data of
training participants in enterprises by age group. A report dealing with the age
question shows that participation of older employees in continuing vocational
training is much differentiated across Europe. On average, one in four
employees attended continuing vocational training; in enterprises offering it
for its employees one in three employees participated. Germany ranks in the
lower middle, therefore running behind nearly every other northern and
western European countries (Bannwitz, 2008). In most Member States,
changes in age structures will go hand-in-hand with a decline in population
size. As mentioned, in Germany this development has become visible since
2010. Composition of the potential work force by age cohort will also change

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( ) European surveys on continuing vocational training in enterprises provide important information on
quantitative and qualitative structures of continuing vocational training and supply comparable data
from many European countries. Three surveys were conducted with the reference years 1993, 1999
and 2005. The next survey will be held in 2011. 28 countries and more than 100 000 enterprises
participated in CVTS3. Results are available from the Eurostat database
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/education/data/database [17.6.2011].
For an evaluation and interpretation of CVTS3 see Cedefop, 2010.
( ) Fees and payments of courses, travel and subsistence payments, labour cost of internal trainers
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and other costs (teaching material, rooms, etc.).