The lack of Vocational Training places is one of the main obstacles to training thousands of young people in the State. The point is that the demand for these studies significantly exceeds the supply. It has been estimated that around 40,000 students have been left without places in the Community of Madrid and Catalonia. Faced with this reality, many young people are faced with the dilemma of taking a sabbatical year or trying to enter a private center. In the Basque Country, the situation is different. The Basque Government guarantees 100% of places in the 23 Basque VET sectors.

What's more, according to Confebask, the Basque employers' association, there are unfilled positions even in the sectors where companies need students the most.

This is clearly seen in the current situation of the Basque VET. Responding to challenges in the report. In that report, the Department of Education provides employment data for each sector in addition to its employability rate, essential information when choosing a cycle. According to this document, in September 30,484 places were offered in the first year and 24,916 people were enrolled, which gives an occupation level of 81.73% of the places. Furthermore, employability is at 89.60%, which means that almost nine out of ten graduates of the last promotion found work after graduation.

According to professional families, the branches with the highest supply and employability are: Mechanical Manufacturing (3,925 places in the first year, 79.67% occupation and 91.89% employability); Electricity and Electronics (3,475 jobs, 72% occupation and 89% employability); IT and Communications (2,870 places, 81.39% occupancy and 90.86% employability); Health (2,712 places, 96.02% occupancy and 86.57% employability), Installation and Maintenance (2,456 places, 77.69% occupancy and 95.01% employability). There are some sectors that have a reduced offer of places but also have a great job opportunity. This is the case of Security and Environment (with 125 jobs and 90.15% employability) or Energy and Water (with 283 jobs and 98.08% employability).

According to the Demography and Vocational Education report for two years. The Professional Profiles 2022 by Confebasque show that there are seven sectors with a greater need for professionals. In order from highest to lowest demand, they are: Mechanical Manufacturing, Administration and Management, Electrical and Electronics, Installation and Maintenance, Computers and Communications, Chemistry and Trade and Marketing. According to the same research, 76.5% of new hires of VET graduates were gathered in 17 cycles of Intermediate and Advanced Degrees, such as Quality Analysis and Control Laboratory, Administration and Finance, Welding and Classic Boilermaking or Multi-Platform Application Development.

Studies up

The need for people with appropriate training is one of the historical concerns of Basque vocational training, where it has been seen that the need for professionals was increasing. Responding to this need has required a progressive increase in the offer, both in new degrees and in the number of places in different cycles. In the 2023-2024 academic year, and taking into account the possibility of taking parts of an educational cycle throughout the course, the Basque VET has more than 49,000 students, which represents a 14% increase compared to the data of the 2019-2020 academic year. Regarding the offer, the analysis places us in the following data: in the 2021/2020 school year there were 134 training cycles, compared to 167 training cycles and specialization courses this year, 24% more.

However, companies continue to complain that they cannot find skilled labor. They cite different reasons why they have difficulty finding people. These are the issues that must be dealt with in order to face the aforementioned difficulties. In order of importance, these would be: increasing the number of people who have the opportunity to enter the market, strengthening specialization and indirect skills (attitude/disposition/interest...) or accrediting more experience in the work environment. They also claim to strengthen languages ​​or promote knowledge in digital technologies.

The training or specialization needs mentioned in the Confebask report are linked to the updating of training cycles, in response to the changes and advances taking place in each sector. In addition, he calls for the preparation of emerging profiles and adds that 33% of companies will increase the recruitment of people with various emerging profiles. Some of the most notable are: Cyber ​​Security, Data Security Applied to Industrial Processes, Industrial Automation and Robotics, Die Design and Maintenance, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Mechatronics, Programming, Artificial Intelligence, Industry 4.0, Automation and Big Data.

Specialization

Basque Vocational Education's response to business needs focuses on establishing Specialization Programs and Specialization Courses. The first are the customized training programs designed by the Vice-Chancellor of Vocational Education and Training, which respond in a flexible way to the needs that arise in different production sectors. These programs have been designed quickly, in an average time period of about three months, they are given in the Dual mode and have an average duration of 900 hours during a course. Its aim is to train students and workers who are interested in the new required skills and who do not respond to the current Education Cycles or Specialization Cycles. So far, 42 programs have been designed, more than 150 companies have responded and almost 1,000 people have participated, obtaining the relevant certificate.