Berlin faces a gap in administration training
In the heart of Europe, Berlin is making strides to address the shortage of skilled workers by increasing the number of company-based training opportunities. This initiative is seen as a key lever to bridge the gap, with approximately 136,000 people currently employed in the Berlin administration, a number that continues to grow.
Last year, 4,200 people were trained in the main administration, and 2,100 were trained in the education administration. The training quota within the main administration was 7.8 percent in January 2025, a slight decrease from 8.2 percent in 2019. In the districts, the training quota was 4.3 percent in 2025, up from 3.9 percent in 2019.
The city's black-red government coalition believes that Berlin's companies are not training enough and plans to introduce a training fund if at least 2,000 more training relationships are not counted by the end of the year than at the beginning of the training year 2023. The draft law provides for a levy on all companies, with companies that train receiving money from the fund.
Berlin offers a wide range of advanced training programs aimed at improving administrative skills and management capabilities within both public administration and the private economy. These include specialized courses in Administrative Operation and Coordination, Advanced Office Management and Administrative Skills, and business education and doctorate programs through institutions like ESMT Berlin.
The future goals of these programs involve fostering leadership, innovation, and global business perspectives that equip Berlin’s workforce—both in public administration and the private sector—with skills to drive transformation and cooperation.
Comparing today's training landscape to that of 1950, Berlin was a city recovering from World War II, divided politically and economically, with very limited coordinated administrative training or economic development programs. The scale and sophistication of training programs now, including internationally linked business schools and specialized administrative courses, represent a significant growth in formal relationships supporting administration and the economy.
Despite the stagnant training quota in the Berlin administration at 7.2 percent for several years, the number of training relationships within the Berlin administration increased to 10,500 at the beginning of this year, up from 9,800 in 2020. Only 18 percent of Berlin's businesses offer training, with Reinickendorf and Spandau, the two smallest districts, having 76 and 72 trainees respectively, and Pankow, the largest district, in third-to-last place with 78 trainees. Steglitz-Zehlendorf and Treptow-Köpenick have the highest number of trainees among the districts.
In the past, there were 755 trainees per 100 students in 1950, compared to 43 trainees per 100 students today. This indicates a significant shift in the emphasis on vocational training in Berlin over the past seven decades.
As Berlin continues to evolve into a modern European business and administrative centre, the expansion of high-level, coordinated training programs linking administration and economic leadership will undoubtedly play a crucial role in meeting the challenges of the future.
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