As of the annual reporting date (March 31, 2021), the voestalpine Group was training 1,309 apprentices in about 50 skilled trades, the majority (64.6%) at locations in Austria. A total of 22.6% of apprentices were being trained in Germany under the dual system applicable in that country. Because apprenticeships are based on defined needs, almost all of the apprentices who successfully complete their training are offered full-time positions. voestalpine clearly believes that it has the duty to invest in the training of young, skilled workers. In addition to excellent professional training, the focus also is on developing personal and social skills. The Group currently invests more than EUR 90,000 on training a single apprentice.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, new ways had to be found to meet with potential apprentices for the company’s 410 trainee slots. Online formats such as a digital open house, digital presentations by the company at schools, or participation in digital trade shows took the place of in-person trade shows, open houses, and applicant interviews. The Group’s HR departments are continually reviewing their options in their given regions in order to determine whether in-person meetings with applicants are possible.
Digital group apprentice day
Even the annual voestalpine Group Apprentice Day had to take place in a completely new format due to the limitations arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. This event enables apprentices to network Group-wide and gives them insights beyond their own workplace. Apprentices thus met on October 6, 2020, for a hybrid event. The Management Board as well as select representatives of the Linz facility spoke live from Stahlwelt to approximately 400 apprentices and their trainers from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland who participated via interactive livestreams. voestalpine facilities such as Zeltweg, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Wetzlar, Wallisellen, and the Linz Training Center along with group-IT were represented interactively by one trainer and apprentice each, both of whom provided insight into the individual facilities’ activities and products. The members of the Management Board and the Group Works Council answered apprentices’ questions in a Q&A session. Many participants concluded that “solidarity and courage are more important now than they have ever been.”