Unemployment Strongly Dependent on Educational Attainment

Individuals with at most a compulsory school education are still the most affected by unemployment. In the annual average of 2024, their unemployment rate was 21.3 percent, which was three times higher than the overall average of 7 percent. For individuals with an apprenticeship qualification, the rate was 6.1 percent, while for those with a university of applied sciences or university degree, it was 3 percent.

AMS Head Kopf: Education is a Shield Against Unemployment

"Education is the best protection against unemployment. The higher the education, the lower the risk of becoming unemployed or remaining unemployed in the long term. Especially in times of digitalization, ecological transition, and internationalization of the labor market, fewer and fewer jobs are being offered to individuals with at most a compulsory school education. And this trend will even intensify in the future," warns AMS board member Johannes Kopf. Education acts like a shield - the stronger it is, the better it withstands economic turbulence.

The AMS figures certainly speak clearly: Around 45 percent of the individuals registered as unemployed in 2024 had only a compulsory school education, about 28 percent had an apprenticeship qualification. On the demand side, around 40 percent of the open positions required at least a completed apprenticeship. The group of individuals with at most a compulsory school education is the only one whose unemployment rate has more than doubled since the 1990s.

Unemployment: Tourism as an Anchor for Individuals with Low Education

The proportion of individuals with compulsory school education is about the same for women at 44 percent as it is for men. The difference is more pronounced in the proportion of individuals with an apprenticeship qualification: 23 percent of unemployed women, but 32 percent of unemployed men have completed an apprenticeship. "A look at the federal states shows that there are fewer unemployed individuals with at most a compulsory school education in the western federal states. This is partly because more jobs in the low-qualification segment are still offered in tourism," according to the AMS in its special analysis.

(APA/Red)

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