There is an ongoing debate weather the German system of VET is able to adopt to the compe-tence and qualifications requirements of a knowledge based economy. Some writers underline that the German system of Vet is traditionally strong to train experi-enced based skills and competences by apprenticeship and in-company training. But in this view knowledge work requires a different set of skills and knowledge, in particularly prob-lem-solving, extended social and self organising skills. These kinds of skills are acquired in the German educational system more by school or academic based education but not by the vocational training system. It is assumed that companies tend to recruit people with an educa-tional background from institutions of higher and academic education also for positions which were previous hold on by people with a company-based vocational training background. As a result company-based vocational training is seen in danger to be left only for routine and low skilled positions and jobs (Baethge 2004, 2007). In contrast, other writers argue, that in the knowledge economy experiential and work-based knowledge and skills are gaining more and more the important preconditions for socio-economic innovation and the professional and vocational development of individuals. Experi-ential and work-based knowledge and skills are seen as important for the creation of innova-tion in companies but also for managing unforeseen events and problems (Böhle, 2005) and to access to information and to use it efficiently (Lundvall, 1999, 2008). As a result of this posi-tion, work-based experiential knowledge is seen as more important than theoretical knowl-edge (Eraut,.1998, Rauner 2007). Work-based training and learning and communities of prac-tice are emphasised as becoming more and more important for the competence development Based on these considerations, the paper will present some empirical results to the following research questions: 1.How do work and skills requirement in knowledge-based and technology-intensive fields of employment change? 2.How do they change the company’s strategies for competence development and per-sonnel recruitment? 3.Does the recruitment of employees with an educational background from institutions of higher and academic education tend to reduce company-based vocational training and do academic trained employees compete with company-based vocational trained people on medium qualificational levels? 4.What kind of experience do companies have with employees with different training backgrounds and vocational and educational pathways?

Question 1 will be addressed by empirical results from a representative survey of German employees in 2006 (sample 20.000) about changing work and competence requirements and educational pathways. The results will highlight firstly changes on technical, social, commu-nicative and problem-solving skill requirements within distinctive service and technology intensive occupational fields. Secondly, the data are used to distinguish innovative, flexible, qualified routine and routine based work and job profiles along different qualificational levels and occupational and employment sectors. Research questions 2, 3, 4 are addressed by results of a research project on companies strate-gies for competence development and personnel recruitment in employment increasing fields of economy. Results from case studies based on interviews with different experts from com-panies and occupational and employment fields and sectors are presented.

The expected outcome will help to critical evaluate perspectives on the changed role of differ-ent types of knowledge and skills for the knowledge economy by providing some empirical results. They give us good reasons to see a more complementary role of the different types of knowledge and skills for the requirements of a knowledge economy and ideas about how in-stitutions of training and learning have to change. Additionally further research needs are ad-dressed.