Apprenticeship Training in Austria: Competences at Risk!?

In Austria, developments in the field of education and training are emerging that risk acting as a drag on an economy whose central resource is the competence of its working population, and that must be regarded as counterproductive in the face of the skilled labour shortage. Rising dropout rates in Austrian apprenticeship training, as well as drop-outs from STEM programmes, were the subject of the fourth Vocational Education and Training Jour Fixe, held on 14 April 2026, under the title "Apprenticeship Training in Austria: Competences at Risk!?". The findings presented by ibw, IHS, L&R and WIFO on training dropouts in the dual system and on gender disparities in the STEM field make clear that targeted approaches to competence development among young people and established strategies for knowledge transfer are of central importance.