Out of the 192 regions considered in the study, only 5 had attained a 100% employment rate among recent trade school graduates: Zeeland and Flevoland in the Netherlands, Trier in Germany, Övre Norrland in Sweden and Luxembourg were able to provide jobs to all of their students.

Luxembourg’s success is unsurprising, considering the country’s of applicants for apprenticeships. As of August 2021, several trade sectors had many training positions open. Among these were positions as apprentice butchers, bricklayers, tilers and roofers. In these sectors the numbers of students remained in the single digits.

More popular careers such as future beauticians or car and motorbike mechanics were largely overwhelmed with demand from students. Students that could not find a traineeship in their first choice could thus still find a position in another sector.

Regardless, Luxembourg vocational schools see many apprentices enrol but not graduate. Another reason for the lack in labour force and, consequently, the high employability rate among vocational graduates.  

The Eurostat study also found that regions of southern Spain, southern Italy and French overseas departments had the lowest rate of employment for recent vocational graduates. The same regions show a higher general unemployment rate among the EU.

The overall EU average went down from 79% to 76%, bringing the percentage points further away from the 82% employment goal to achieve by 2025.

Luxembourg’s successful hiring of students in the trades sectors is part of a positive trend in the country’s job world: Luxembourg had, despite the pandemic, registered a rate in 2020.