They agreed to create over 8,000 new apprenticeships: Ten years later, the number has fallen.

Skilled workers are needed to support the green transition, but they are in short supply, partly due to the lack of apprenticeships. This problem has existed for years. This was also the case almost ten years ago. The big words were in use when then Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen formulated the goal in August 2016: In 2025, we will provide between 8,000 and 10,000 more internships.

In other words, it was supposed to be over with young carpenters and chefs and other skilled workers searching in vain for an apprenticeship, the then Liberal government agreed with the social partners in a so-called tripartite agreement. Ten years later, the results can be compared. And it has ended in a deficit. This is reported by Fagbladet 3F.

In 2025, a total of 607 fewer agreements were concluded between a young person and a company than in 2016, when Løkke made his statement. This is shown by the Ministry of Education's monthly statements on apprenticeships, which have just been updated with December figures for 2025.

Dissatisfaction at 3F

In the trade union 3F, which organizes many skilled workers, the dissatisfaction is palpable:

- It is truly tragic that we are ten years behind with fewer apprenticeship agreements than we had at the start, says Søren Heisel, who is the union secretary and education manager at 3F.

The background to the tripartite agreement in 2016 was that both the government and the social partners saw an increasing need to ensure sufficient skilled labor in the future.

At that time, there was a shortage of around 10-12,000 apprenticeships for young people who wanted to be skilled workers. A large number of them were also in school internships because they could not find an apprenticeship. That is why the turbo was put on to kick up the number of apprenticeships.

For example, a new apprenticeship model was created that was supposed to give financial carrots to companies when they set up apprenticeships. But despite many initiatives, the calculation still ended up in the red.

- I think these sad figures scream for political action, says Søren Heisel.

Minister of Education: The figure is not decisive

Fagbladet 3F has asked Minister of Education Mattias Tesfaye (S) whether the initiatives have been good enough, since the goal has not been reached. He does not answer that directly. But in an email he writes that the number is not decisive:

"I recently visited apprentices in school internships. And I am currently talking to both the Danish Employers' Association and the trade union movement about the problem. The decisive thing for me is not whether exactly 10,000 more apprenticeships are created. The most important thing for me is that the young people who want to be skilled get a real apprenticeship", writes Mattias Tesfaye.

Employers are not particularly concerned with the specific number either. Because the situation is fundamentally different than in 2016, believes Jannik Bay, head of education and integration at the Danish Employers' Association (DA).

The problem is the opposite now: Companies want to create more apprenticeships - there just aren't enough students, says Jannik Bay. He points out that the number of students who began vocational training in the mid-2020s has decreased by around 9,000 compared to when the agreement was made.

In 3F, union secretary Søren Heisel calls it “a myth” that there is a shortage of students.

- There are students who are looking for apprenticeships all over the country in many subjects, says Søren Heisel to Fagbladet 3F.