The IHK campaign is helping to highlight last-minute apprenticeship vacancies in Brandenburg’s economy.
The Brandenburg Chambers of Industry and Commerce (IHKs) are calling on member companies offering apprenticeships to ‘throw in the towel’. This is purely symbolic, as part of a major social media photo and video campaign to mark the start of the summer holidays. Many companies are still looking for interested young people to start apprenticeships, even shortly before the start of the training period. The “Towel Challenge” is designed to provide wide-reaching support to the local economy in its search.
“With the Towel Challenge , we’re playfully borrowing a bad habit of German holidaymakers – securing the best spots by the pool and on the beach early on,” says Ina Hänsel, speaking on behalf of the State Working Group comprising the Potsdam Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK), the East Brandenburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) and the Cottbus Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK). “By the start of the holidays, over a thousand apprenticeship places for 2026/27 remained unfilled here in Brandenburg in IHK-accredited trades alone. We want to show young people that there are still plenty of opportunities waiting for you in Brandenburg – and perhaps even in your local area. To this end, we’re pooling our social media reach to give companies a platform to show: ‘We’ve reserved a place for you in our team.’”
How does it work?
Step 1:
Companies place a towel on a typical workplace or piece of work equipment in their business – for example, on an office chair, on a bus, on the driver’s seat of a forklift truck, at a workbench or in a sales area.
Step 2:
Take a photo or a short video. Anyone who wishes to can download templates for social media posts from the IHK websites and use these for their posts.
Step 3:
Post everything on Instagram via posts or directly in your own Story. Hashtags: #Handtuchchallenge, #könnenlernen and/or #machesinbrandenburg Please tag the Potsdam Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK), the East Brandenburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK), the Cottbus Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) and ‘Mach es in Brandenburg’. This is important so that the Chambers’ social media teams can spot the posts quickly and feature them in their own Stories.
The State Working Group (LAG) is a joint initiative of the three Chambers of Industry and Commerce in the state of Brandenburg. It represents the interests of around 160,000 companies in industry, commerce and the service sector.