How can we develop our human resources to increase competitiveness? From a global perspective, we are in the midst of an ever-increasing international competition for talents. Europe issues Blue Cards to skilled workers from non-EU countries, Germany is setting up elite universities along American lines, and, at the 2008 Education Summit in Dresden, the federal and the state governments announced their plan to increase investments in education and training in order to integrate all citizens into the so-called “Education Republic of Germany” and help address the lack of skilled workers.

And yet, according to a poll conducted by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), there were more than 1.3 million job vacancies in 2011. Moreover, compared to the previous year, the number of companies who see the lack of skilled workers as one of the biggest risks for their economic development has doubled.

At the same time, a study commissioned by the German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB) showed that 1.7 million people between the age of 20 and 30 have not graduated from school nor are they undergoing some kind of vocational training. It becomes increasingly clear that we do not tap into our potential talent pools and thus run the risk of falling behind in the international competition.

How can we mobilize and use the potential of less qualified young people? Is this the key to increase a country’s economic competitiveness in the long run? What contribution can be made by the dual education system, which itself integrates only a small number of eligible high school graduates? How can we improve the education and training opportunities for children and young people from uneducated or immigrant backgrounds in times of strained public budgets? In this context, what is the role of the state, but also of industry and the third sector?

These issues were discussed by:

Jörg Dräger Member of the Executive Board, Education Director, Bertelsmann Foundation, Gütersloh; Director, CHE – Center for Higher Education Development, Gütersloh

Regina Pötke Member of the Executive Board, Education Director, Roland Berger Foundation, Munich

Ludger Wößmann Head of Department, Human Capital and Innovation, ifo Institute, Munich

Christoph Anz Director of Education Policy, BMW Group, Munich

Jeanne Rubner (Moderator) Author and Editor, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich

Jürgen Chrobog (Welcome and Introduction) State Secretary (ret.); Chairman of the Board of Directors, BMW Stiftung Herbert Quandt, Munich and Berlin

Hans-Werner Sinn (Welcome and Introduction) Professor of Economics and Public Finance, University of Munich; President, ifo Institute, Munich