The situation regarding skilled workers in youth work : initial results from workshops, an expert hearing and an online survey of open youth work institutions across Germany

Abstract

Anyone subscribed to mailing lists related to youth work will regularly receive a plethora of job advertisements. They are often accompanied by messages containing similar formulations, from “we are urgently seeking staff” to “please support us, as we have been forced to curtail the services we offer for young people”. Alert observers will notice that the same job advertisements are sent out time and again. Finding staff is, evidently, a tough proposition in youth work at present. This is cause for concern, as youth work plays a vital role in (supporting) the development of many young people (Deutscher Bundestag 2017; Voigts & Blohm 2022, 2023).

Against this background, the German Federal Network on Youth Work (Bundesnetzwerk KJA), the Transfer Office for Implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda in Germany (Transferstelle EYWA) and Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg) have undertaken joint activities focusing on the shortage of skilled youth workers and means of recruiting and retaining them. The partners agreed several objectives: firstly, to engage in a broad, systematic exchange; secondly, to collect empirical data on the situation regarding skilled workers in open youth work institutions; thirdly, to develop strategies to combat the shortage of skilled workers and, fourthly, to make the topic a central focus of the 4th Federal Congress on Youth Work in Potsdam in 2024.