Skilled workers vs. academics: “We have studied ourselves to ruin”

KURIER: So still an academic education.

Mario Derntl: Yes, but only later. The foundation for everything was my apprenticeship training. She showed me the way and ultimately made me an entrepreneur.

You have always been a supporter of apprenticeship training. Now the USA has also recognized that this training is valuable. The number of registered apprentices in the USA is expected to grow to one million by 2029. What’s behind it?

The great need. In reality, the huge issue they have is that they don’t have a workforce that can handle complex topics and machines. There is a lack of skilled workers with problem-solving skills. They either have managers or semi-skilled assistants – there isn’t much in between in the USA.

They say the new motto in the US is “less college for all.”

That is my perception. The President’s Executive Order sets a clear requirement to grow in the blue collar sector. In Switzerland there is currently a delegation from a US state almost every week that looks at the apprenticeship model there.

Teaching, especially in Austria, has had an image problem for decades. We have strongly promoted higher education and studies. Where are we today?

We are faced with a pile of broken glass. The reality is that never before have so many people been looking for work in higher-skilled fields. We have many graduates in the mass subjects who we can no longer find on the job market. One driver of this development is certainly AI. Companies are hiring far fewer juniors and no longer develop seniors. At the same time, people with vocational training, especially craftsmen, are the most sought-after group on the labor market. They could work day and night.

Do we have too much academic pride?

The story has always been told: If you really want to be successful, you need a degree. But this narrative has been told today. This story simply doesn’t exist anymore. This always gave the teaching a second-class aura. This devaluation must stop. We have maneuvered ourselves out of the equation, we have too many academics that no one needs and too few skilled workers that companies lack.

Nevertheless, the universities are full: Are we not providing education as needed?

I am convinced that we are not on the right track here. We studied ourselves to pieces. The demand and supply on the labor market do not match. We don’t train accurately.

This can also be seen in the earnings sector: skilled workers have really good incomes and can be successful as entrepreneurs.

We need skilled workers and this reversal in the market is also changing the earning potential: the market simply no longer supports the high salaries for academics.

The skills of specialists have also changed significantly. They talk about “heads that think with their hands.” Because technology and AI are already everywhere today. How does teaching need to change?

To be honest, far too little happens here. The topic of training has no drive at all. Structurally, we completely ignore the topic of training and don’t see the value behind it. When was the last training reform? What has happened in the past few years? We don’t have the upward mobility that we have in Switzerland. That you start with an apprenticeship and then go on to study as normal.

Unemployment with academics, a shortage of skilled workers – this has to be taken into account when deciding on training.

Apprenticeship is still the largest training reform, accounting for almost 40 percent. But in times of crisis, people look for security – so they stay in school. Three target groups still have great growth potential in the skilled workers sector: Migrants, because they are not familiar enough with the apprenticeship model. Women because teaching is still far too male. And the apprenticeship after graduation, because otherwise you can hardly get into the job market.