Developments on the apprenticeship market show not only a declining number of apprentices in establishments with less than ten employees, but also that fewer and fewer micro-enterprises are offering apprenticeships at all. The competition for applicants has generally intensified as young people's interest in apprenticeships is declining. Micro-enterprises with comparatively large numbers of unfilled apprenticeships are particularly affected by this deve-lopment. This study analyzes the reason for this development and examines the challenges for micro-enterprises. The results show that the main reason why apprenticeship positions in micro-enterprises remain unfilled is that they are unable to find (suitable) applicants. If micro-enterprises are (still) able to cover their demand for skilled workers from the external labor market and have no need to train apprentices themselves, they may withdraw from providing apprenticeships.