00:00This year's World Skills Competition takes place in Lyon, France.
00:06It's both a global contest and an exhibition for vocational training.
00:12Lisa-Marie Tan is Germany's champion pastry chef.
00:17As she finishes her sugar sculpture, her competitor from Malaysia works on a marzipan cake.
00:25In Max Bayer's kitchen, various types of baguettes are being made under intense time pressure.
00:32Next up are jelly doughnuts called Berliners, each with extra decoration on top.
00:39In 2023, one third of baker apprenticeships in Germany went unfilled.
00:46Max, a journeyman baker, is feeling the pressure.
00:50He has about 23 or 24 minutes left to finish everything.
00:54That means he has to go full speed, but everything still needs to look uniform, each piece exactly like the next.
01:03It's not just bakers. The shortage of skilled labor is affecting the trades all across Europe.
01:08I know because we've had to have these conversations with our governments, with our stakeholders,
01:13and we've essentially told them, this is your best recruitment fair, actually.
01:17And you know, some countries, in Asia for instance, they've understood that for many years, far quicker than us.
01:24We catch up with Lisa-Marie and Max the day before their competition.
01:28They stop by to check out their teammates in the gardening competition.
01:32As professionals, they quickly recognize the challenges of other trades.
01:38They've got these laser tools here. They have to build walls down to the millimeter,
01:42even though they don't have a real foundation, just sand.
01:47It's crazy. No easy task.
01:50WorldSkills sees itself as a festival for the trades, promoting vocational training across different fields.
01:57For Lisa-Marie and Max, the focus is on learning from each other.
02:01This is particularly evident when they check out their competitors' work.
02:09The sugar sculptures being made here showcase a lot of new techniques.
02:13You can draw inspiration from them, either for the next competition or even for personal projects.
02:19And meeting all these people is just super interesting.
02:25WorldSkills has even created a symbol for this exchange.
02:32These are pins from different countries.
02:34Every country brings a pin and you can trade them.
02:37You can only get one if you give one.
02:40I got a special pin from Taiwan that can light up. Hardly anyone has one like it.
02:46This year in Lyon, 60 different skills are being showcased.
02:501,400 participants from 70 countries compete under tight time constraints, with judges evaluating the results.
02:59I never would have thought hotel reception could be a skill.
03:02That's really cool, but I bet it's stressful.
03:05What's intense is all the spectators. They're standing right there watching.
03:09At least we've got a window separating us.
03:13For the organizers, everything is running like clockwork.
03:16School groups are getting information about vocational opportunities.
03:21We have high engagement from the Ministry of Education,
03:24because obviously the objective is to get these youth in the workforce.
03:28Germany's Ministry of Education and Research supported its national team in 2024 with nearly 1.1 million euros,
03:36but no senior minister from Germany visited the competition.
03:41At their final stop, Lisa Marie and Max visit their teammate Kim, the florist.
03:46After four days of competition, the WorldSkills event in Lyon comes to an end.
03:58WorldSkills.org
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