They smile down from billboards on the streets of Hesse. These young people represent pensions, progress, the future and economic revival, and they are looking for training opportunities. Roughly 43,300 young people have been planning their first step into working life in the last few months, and they have applied for a total of 27,000 training places in Hesse (situation as of July 2006) /1/.

There was a gaping hole in the number of training places in 2005, but this has now largely been filled, and this has required input from forward-thinking companies. One of these is KARL MAYER Textilmaschinenfabrik GmbH. For decades, this traditional, Obertshausen-based company has always been very keen to promote new, young technical and commercial talent, and this year again, it is one of the 5.2% of companies in Hesse that are offering training places.

KARL MAYER welcomed a total of 24 school-leavers on 1 September as new apprentices or university students. The event took place at the KARL MAYER Workshop Museum, the site of the former workshop where the successful history of this internationally renowned company began. To open the event, Frank Winter, the head of KARL MAYER’s Human Resources Department, welcomed the young people, introduced the company, described its long training tradition, and stressed how important it is for highly motivated young people to generate new ideas so that companies can remain active on increasingly competitive markets. The second president of the works council, Monika Winter, then outlined the type of support that the works council can offer, and talked of her own time as a trainee. The teaching staff were then given an opportunity to introduce themselves: Andrea Croneiss, the head commercial training, Ralf Meisinger, the head of technical training, and Erik Pfeifer, who is responsible for supervising the technical students.

KARL MAYER Textilmaschinenfabrik GmbH is currently training a total of 88 apprentices and students in areas such as electrical engineering, industrial applications, mechanical engineering and mechatronics, tool specialists, commercial specialists, electronic engineers specialising in technical equipment and installation, and business administrators specialising in office communications. The students graduating from KARL MAYER’s training programmes usually achieve top results; they are regularly praised by the IHK Offenbach (Offenbach Chamber of Commerce and Industry), and enjoy an excellent reputation within the industry. A team of highly competent and experienced teaching staff is responsible for training the students, the training programmes are integrated into industrial practices within the company, and the latest training equipment is available. There is no question that this tried-and-tested training concept will also be of enormous benefit to the new apprentices, as long as they appreciate the opportunity that they are being offered and are fully committed to what they are doing. ‘Take the training seriously, abide by the rules, voice your ideas, be willing to try something new, and enjoy your studies, and in return you will be given the perfect foundation on which to build your future careers,’ said Frank Winter at the end of his welcoming speech to the new apprentices and students, who were given an insight into the concept of mutually beneficent, hands-on learning on their first day at KARL MAYER. They were also treated to a visit to selected departments within the company, and were given an idea of what to expect over the next few years.

In addition to studying, working hard and getting used to a completely new daily routine, they will also be perfectly prepared to cope with any of the challenges they may meet in their future professional careers.

/1/ DGB Hessen, Ausbildungsplatzsituation Hessen 2006 (Training places in Hesse, 2006)

http://www.hessen.dgb.de/jugend/themen/ausbildung/ausbildung_06,Juli 2006