The aim of this article is to show the increased relevance of soft skills in a continuously changing environment. A research was carried out to examine and compare students' and employers' perceptions regarding the importance of soft skills in different European countries. Results show that 86% of respondents indicate an increased emphasis on soft…

China is currently focusing strongly on developing its vocational education and training system, and Germany is an important partner in this process: many German companies operate major manufacturing sites in China and need highly skilled employees. So do German companies in China continue to meet their training needs through the familiar German…

The transfer of vocational education and training (VET) systems is currently the subject of lively international debate, but there has so far been very little documentation of the process or analysis of how such transfers are achieved in practical terms. This paper therefore considers the potential for transferring Germany's "dual"…

Induction in enterprises is a crucial phase for each employee not only to become able to fulfil all relevant tasks but also to enable professional development as well as social and value-oriented integration into the new organisation. This is even more relevant for young people coming from initial vocational education and training with…

This article addresses the question of the strategies and responsibilities of employers and employees with regard to the investment of time into learning. It is based on the findings of a study of medium-sized businesses in Thuringen 2002/2003. Employees and human resources (HR) personnel from thirteen companies were surveyed about general and…