In the competition for apprentices, businesses with a maximum of 9 employees are falling further and further behind
The number of apprentices in the commercial sector and the liberal professions has been rising steadily for the past four years. At the end of December 2025, around 1.53 million (young) workers were in apprenticeship schemes.
"But micro-enterprises – which, after all, account for the largest share of all businesses at over 83 per cent – are not benefiting from this trend. The opposite is true: for the past 15 years, the number of apprentices in businesses with up to nine employees subject to social security contributions has been falling steadily. Conversely, the number of apprenticeship contracts signed in large enterprises is on the rise," reports Dr André Pahnke. At the turn of the year 2025/26, 13.4 per cent of all apprentices were employed in micro-enterprises, compared with 32.2 per cent in large enterprises. In 2011, 20.6 per cent of apprentices were still employed in micro-enterprises and 25.9 per cent in large enterprises.
As 27.1 per cent of apprentices are in small enterprises (10 to 49 employees subject to social insurance contributions) and 27.4 per cent in medium-sized enterprises (50 to 249 employees subject to social insurance contributions), micro, small and medium-sized enterprises together continue to provide the majority of apprenticeship places, at 67.8 per cent.
Micro-enterprises are less attractive to qualified applicants
The negative trend in apprenticeships at micro-enterprises cannot, in principle, be equated with a declining willingness on the part of micro-enterprises to offer apprenticeships. "Micro-enterprises often offer just a single apprenticeship place. If this is not filled by the end of the year, they are excluded from the Federal Employment Agency’s employment statistics as training providers. This creates the impression that they are providing fewer apprenticeships," said the IfM researcher. A previous IfM study also showed that micro-enterprises are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit suitable candidates – not least because they are clearly less attractive to those with (very) good qualifications. The problem is that, in the long term, there is a risk that an increasing number of micro-enterprises will be unable to meet their demand for skilled workers through their own in-house vocational training programmes.
