Opting for the shortcut: incidence, patterns, and economic benefits of shortened apprenticeship durations in Germany

Abstract Despite its success in smoothing the transition from education to the labour market, the German system of apprenticeship training is often criticised as inflexible. Yet, under specific conditions, many apprentices can shorten the standard training duration by up to one year, either by agreeing a shorter duration when signing the contract or by obtaining early admission to the final examination. Empirically, little is known about how frequently these options are used and what economic consequences they have. Using the Vocational Training Statistics for 2008 to 2023, we show that, on average, 21% of newly signed apprenticeship contracts were shortened by at least six months, while 7.3% of the graduates of an apprenticeship used the option of preponed final exams. We then combine these descriptive results with simulations based on unique cost-benefit data on apprenticeship training. The simulations suggest sizeable monetary gains for both firms and apprentices: depending on the scenario, firms can reduce training costs by up to about EUR 9,000, whereas apprentices can gain up to about EUR 25,700 through earlier access to skilled-worker wages. These results indicate that institutionalised options to shorten training duration constitute an important and often overlooked source of flexibility in the German apprenticeship training system.