German skilled trades signed around 67,800 new apprenticeship contracts in the first half of 2026. That is 4.9 percent more than in the same period last year, according to the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (ZDH). It is the fourth consecutive year of growth, and the June figure was the highest since 2018.
The contrast with the state of the sector is striking. Revenues are falling and the economy is weak. The association calls the figures "a bright spot in an otherwise difficult situation". Beyond that, 20,460 apprenticeship places remain unfilled on the chambers' vacancy boards.
One Stuttgart electrical firm with 130 employees shows how far the market has turned. For years it barely found applicants for three or four places. It now holds 90 applications for four.
Why young people are reconsidering
The apprentices themselves name one reason: artificial intelligence. "AI can't conjure a cable into the wall for me," says Leon Briegert, training as an electronics technician for energy and building services near Frankfurt (Oder). "And since every flat is different, it will still take a person to install the technology." Amin Houri studied architecture in Iran for four years and is now training as a plant mechanic in Berlin-Kreuzberg. "I did my research. In future AI will displace the architect's job."
The ZDH names four drivers: fear of AI-driven job losses, years of image campaigns, better pay and career prospects, and the loss of apprenticeship places in industry. Its president Jörg Dittrich, a master roofer from Dresden, regards AI in the trades as a support rather than a threat. "The instruction to the chatbot, 'finish building the house', is usually answered with 'I can help you with the planning. But not with carrying it out.'"
The technology is already in use. Hairdressing clients simulate cuts and colours in advance; construction firms have sustainability reports drafted. Thomas Haun runs a heating and plumbing business with ten employees and four apprentices. He describes the shift concretely. Heat-load calculations used to go to an engineering office, and AI now helps with them, as well as with site diaries and installation reports.
The connection is not proven, however. There is no scientific evidence yet that fear of AI is pushing young people into the trades. There are only indications: in the representative survey "Jugend in Deutschland 2026", co-published by the University of Potsdam, 52 percent of young people expect AI to change working life fundamentally.
Whether the respite becomes a turning point depends on other things. The ZDH is calling for vocational and academic education to be put on an equal legal footing. Many of the trades' training centres are 30 to 50 years old and in need of renovation. And at the end of 2027 the programme "Passgenaue Besetzung und Willkommenslotsen", which has helped firms recruit apprentices and skilled workers including from abroad, is due to expire.