The economic importance of family businesses

Vocational training secures skilled labour

The 2023 training year began on 1 September, marking a new chapter in the lives of many young people. Interestingly, family businesses account for 80 per cent of the companies where the boys and girls are starting their careers.

Against the background of the increasing shortage of skilled labour, these are important figures, as vocational training plays a role that should not be underestimated. The figures were compiled in co-operation with the Mannheim-based economic research institutes ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research and the Mannheim Institute for SME Research (ifm), which regularly collect key figures on the importance of family businesses for the economy on behalf of the foundation. This sixth edition focuses on vocational training management and takes an in-depth look at the distribution, size categories and sectors of companies that provide such training programmes. For the first time, it also includes figures from the Institute for Labour Market and Occupational Research in Nuremberg.

In addition to focussing on education, the study also provides a general overview of the structure and importance of German family businesses, illustrated with numerous graphics. It also analyses the 500 largest family-owned companies separately and compares them with non-family-controlled companies included in the DAX share index.