High-speed to a vocational qualification

Detail - Gerresheimer AG
In particular, working with 3D models and digital data as well as the use of specific software and programming of special machines are an essential part of the training as a tool mechanic for mold technology.
Gerresheimer develops innovative training concept to attract skilled staff

The Global Training Center of Gerresheimer Medical Systems in Wackersdorf (Germany) has developed a special form of training to enable people with a desire for professional reorientation to train as mold mechanics (f/m/d) within two years. 

Wackersdorf, February 2023. The shortage of skilled workers has long been a defining issue in the German economy. In the skilled trades as well as in industry, in healthcare as well as in the social sector - qualified employees are lacking everywhere. According to an analysis of labor market data at the Institute of the German Economy, more than 500,000 positions remain unfilled each year due to a lack of qualified applicants. This has consequences for companies and customers: Growth cannot be mapped, products are lacking, production comes to a standstill and the innovation potential is not raised any further.

Gerresheimer is countering this with its fast-track training as a tool mechanic for mould technology. The medical technology and packaging specialist has developed a form of training to attract people for further qualification who either have not completed vocational training and would like to catch up on it or who, having already completed training, would like to make a fresh start in a modern, technical profession with corresponding career opportunities. At the end of the apprenticeship, which lasts a good two years at Gerresheimer's sites in Pfreimd and Wackersdorf, there is a skilled worker's certificate and thus a qualification in an industrial apprenticeship recognized by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

"On the one hand, we want to use the offer to attract new motivated employees to Gerresheimer," explains Nicole Heimann, Head of Global Training Center, Wackersdorf. "But for us it is also very important to motivate Gerresheimer employees without a degree or with a desire for reorientation to take up training." Gerresheimer has already had good experience with "Fast Track" in another professional field. "The fast-track training program for process mechanics for plastics and rubber technology was in great demand, and we had many applicants here."

The concept is also attracting a great deal of interest because it is funded by the employment agency as part of the "From helper to skilled worker" program. If certain requirements are met, the "retrainees" receive financial support during their training in addition to their training salary. "The aim of employee qualification is to ensure that there are no additional costs for the employees. Anyone who has to support a family would otherwise hardly be able to afford retraining," says Dr. Traute Gastmann from the Employment Agency's Employer Service.

According to Nicole Heimann, the fast-track process is particularly suitable for so-called shortage occupations, i.e. occupations for which fewer people usually apply. "Retrainees in fields that are very popular are competing with a lot of competitors - mostly younger people and some of them already with a vocational qualification in their pocket. However, if you want to learn in a shortage occupation, that disadvantage can be offset because there's less competition."

Training for the fast-track apprenticeship as a mold mechanic starts on September 1, 2023; the apprenticeship lasts two years and four months. The in-company training takes place at the Gerresheimer sites in Pfreimd and Wackersdorf and the school-based training part at the vocational school centers in Schwandorf and Amberg. In a state-of-the-art working environment, the apprentices not only learn everything about manual activities such as milling, eroding, turning and surface grinding.In particular, working with 3D models and digital data as well as the use of specific software and programming of special machines are an essential part of the training. At the end of the fast track, the mold mechanics are able to manufacture injection molds for the series production of plastic components and maintain them accordingly. As different departments in the company are passed through during the training, the trainees also carry out projects and process steps independently as their knowledge increases.

Those interested in the fast-track training program for mold mechanics can find out even more about the opportunities, content and requirements of the training program from Nicole Heimann, Gerresheimer Regensburg GmbH, Wackersdorf.

 

Press contact:

Marion Stolzenwald
40468 Düsseldorf
Tel.: 0211-6181246
marion.stolzenwald@­gerresheimer.com



Karin Fischer
92442 Wackersdorf
Tel.: 09431-639 6140
karin.fischer@­gerresheimer.com