Is education overtaking degrees in importance in the age of ai?

There are more and more students in Germany. Most recently, there were on average only 4.3 apprentices for every ten academics. In the 1950s, the figure was 75.5. Is apprenticeship training losing its importance? From the perspective of university graduates, it is not clear. The job platform Indeed surveyed 500 current or former students about their future prospects.

The survey shows that the vast majority of respondents (82%) are basically satisfied with their academic career. However, there are still doubts and uncertainty about the best career path.

Virginia Sondergeld, economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, says: "Apprenticeships are also increasingly offering exciting development and earning opportunities, some of which can compete with those of traditional knowledge work. A lot has shifted in favor of employees in recent years."

At 67%, two thirds have at least thought about whether an apprenticeship would have suited them better. At 11.4 percent, one in ten now fully agree with the statement.

AI and career entry: dual training is becoming more important

Respondents' doubts are fueled by the possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI). At 52%, more than half of them are worried that AI could make many of the skills they acquired during their studies superfluous. Among current students, 46% see it that way, and among young professionals who have already completed their studies and started working life, the figure is as high as 58%.

Various developments on the job market show that these fears are not unfounded. A recent work trend study by Deloitte concludes that junior roles are becoming increasingly obsolete due to automation, now that AI agents are taking over low-threshold tasks.

Sebastian Pfeifle, Human Capital Lead at Deloitte Germany, cites research activities such as collecting, sorting and processing data and information as an example. These are taught at universities, but are meeting less and less demand in companies.

Martin Krzywdzinski, Director at the Weizenbaum Institute and head of the "Globalization, Work and Production" research group at the Berlin Science Center, agrees: "In our interviews and studies in areas such as programming and data analytics, we see signs of such a development."

The researcher sees dual training as a strong vehicle for building up skills more quickly in line with current technological and market developments. People need to learn to work with AI in order to be able to move quickly from simple to more complex tasks under supervision. This often happens faster in private companies than in state-organized educational institutions.

Employers and universities must respond

According to Viginia Sondergeld, the potential of AI, but also the fear among graduates of becoming superfluous as a result of it, should keep all organizations busy. Manual tasks that have a low potential to be replaced by AI will become more valuable compared to simple knowledge work, which could make training along these activities more attractive.

"Employers and universities are well advised to prepare both students and trainees for the challenges of the modern working world. This includes giving them the skills to use AI instead of fearing it."

This article first appeared on t3n.de .

(jle)