As the consultancy company Clevis Consult established in its Future Talents Report 2019 , 49% of German companies are missing out on the opportunity to maintain contact with interns after their period of employment has ended. Although 90% of those starting out on careers would be interested in a job, employers often break off contact with them immediately after their last day of work. According to the study, an internship ends with a feedback interview in just four out of ten cases. Similarly, only a few employers are using the opportunity to tie talented graduates to them through dissertations: in fact, just one in six corporations and only 10% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) do so.

At the same time, the shortage of qualified personnel is worsening all the time. As a survey by the German Economic Institute in Cologne showed, the number of unfilled posts in the areas of mathematics, informatics, natural sciences and technology (MINT) has doubled to 337,900 over the last three years. Companies are trying to cope with this shortage through training and staff development and through increased use of cobots.