Introduction

Youth unemployment is a major source of concern in Europe. There are two reasons why the levels of youth unemployment continue to be high in certain European Union (EU) member states. First, young people have greater difficulties in finding a job than adults. In many instances, young people's skills and competences are critically assessed, and young job-seekers have to compete with adults who are already part of the labor market. Second, in recent years, European firms have reported skills mismatches among young job-seekers, making it difficult for them to hire adequately skilled staff. Therefore, youth unemployment can be regarded as a consequence of poor vocational education and training (VET) policies that result in inadequate skills, skills shortages and skills mismatches (Majumdar, 2017). If they lack the necessary skills, youths and adults alike will be confronted with difficulties in finding decent work and they are less likely to become entrepreneurs, even though entrepreneurship stimulates innovation and economic growth.

Scholars have identified such deficiencies in the VET systems of some EU member states, whereas others they regard as role models. The German VET system has been heralded as particularly successful for integrating young people into the labor market (Shore and Tosun, 2019a, 2019b). The main characteristic of this ‘dual system’ is its structure, as the skill formation takes place over a training period of two to three-and-a-half years through the regulated cooperation of vocational schools, on the one hand, and companies, on the other. Trainees in this system spend part of the week at the vocational school and the other part at the company, where they are involved in regular working activities. The main benefit for apprentices is that they receive work-based training that improves their chances in the labor market. Given the empirically manifest success of the German model, several countries have attempted to adopt it or at least parts of it (Marques and Hörisch, 2019).

However, the German VET system is embedded in a complex organizational structure and has matured over several decades since the adoption of the Vocational Training Act of 1969. It is based on the collaboration of the federal government, the states, private companies, and certification bodies such as the chamber of industry (Bonoli and Wilson, 2019). Employer organizations and trade unions are the drivers when it comes to updating and creating new training regulations and occupational profiles or modernizing further training regulations.