The costs of recruiting apprentices: Evidence from German workplace-level data. (May 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wenzelmann, Felix; Muehlemann, Samuel; Pfeifer, Harald
• Is Part Of: German journal of human resource management =. Volume 31:Number 2(2017)
• Page Start: 108
• Page End: 131
• Publication Date: 2017-05
• Subjects: Apprenticeship training -- demographic change -- human capital investment -- local labour markets -- local training markets -- recruitment costs; Personnel management -- Periodicals; Personnel management -- Germany -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 658.3
• DOI: 10.1177/2397002216683863
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2397-0022

Abstract

In this article, we use workplace-level data to analyse the costs of filling an apprenticeship vacancy in Germany. We find that such recruitment costs amount on average to €600 per hire (almost one month's pay of an apprentice or approximately 1–2 % of a workplace's training expenditures), but costs are heterogeneous across workplaces and vary strongly by training occupation. Our results suggest that a high degree of competition among training workplaces in the region is associated with an increase in recruitment costs. Furthermore, we find that workplaces with a works council or an investment-oriented training strategy incur higher recruitment costs. Our results are important in light of the increasing competition for talented school leavers induced by demographic change.