Creating new training positions and finding qualified young workers are currently major concerns in the Bavarian metallurgy and electronics industries. Owing to demographic change, it is anticipated that qualified personnel will be in short supply by the end of the current decade. This situation has prompted the metallurgy and electronics industrial organisations BayME and VBM to address the issue of occupational training by establishing an occupational training management centre (Zentrum für Ausbildungsmanagement Bayern [zab]) that will organise a wide range of outreach activities targeted at parents, teachers and students.
Companies which are members of BayME and VBM will find training easier thanks to external training management. The advice offered by zab is aimed above all at SMEs. A team of mobile training advisors holds workshops dealing with current issues concerning training and develops custom-made solutions for particular firms.
The service offered to secondary schools includes a wide range of careers guidance workshops involving workers and managers from BayME/VBM member companies, carried out in schools. Work placements and visits are arranged for teachers in order to improve the level of cooperation between schools and business. These activities allow zab to involve parents and teachers as important figures in the training initiative.
zab’s internet presence provides information for all target groups. Companies can find information at www.zab-bayern.de, whilst parents, teachers and students can find information at www.ausbildungsoffensive-bayern.de. Alongside information about zab’s activities, the site also includes an aptitude test for the metal and electronics industries, a discussion forum and training place advertisements.
A Bavaria-wide advertising campaign has made sure that the aims of the training initiative have reached the public in an effective way appropriate for young people. A range of actions have been taken to combat the poor image of the metal and electronic industries and to interest young people in the possibility of training in this field.
