As of the annual reporting date (March 31, 2023), the voestalpine Group was training 1,402 apprentices in about 50 skilled trades, the majority thereof (67.0%) at locations in Austria. A total of 17.0% of apprentices were being trained in Germany under the dual system applicable in that country. Because this training is based on defined needs, almost all of the apprentices who successfully complete their training are offered an employment contract. 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. On average, the Group invests more than EUR 90,000 on training a single apprentice.
Our apprentices’ numerous successes highlight the quality of the training we offer. For example, these include 16 awards at the 2022 Upper Austria Apprentice Award or a medal for Excellence in Electrical Systems at the 46th WorldSkills Competition in 2022 (aka the “World Championships of Professions”). The fact that the United States Secretary of Labor visited the Linz, Austria, training center in January 2023 further underscores the excellent reputation of the Group’s training program. Given the increasing lack of skilled labor, the U.S. is intensifying its cooperation and exchanges with Austria in matters related to dual education. This shows yet again that voestalpine is the industry’s showcase for successful skilled worker training. The company will offer some 500 trainee slots in the next training year (which starts in September 2023) in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.
“I choose voestalpine” apprentice campaign
In October 2022, voestalpine AG launched an advertising campaign geared specifically to young people and their parents that presents the roughly 50 skilled trades being taught at the company’s 40 training facilities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The aim is to support the Group companies as best as possible in their search for future young skilled workers. Geographically speaking, our campaign focuses on the areas where the given voestalpine sites are located, but it is promoted on TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, and Instagram—i.e., precisely the social media young people use. The campaign directed at parents is broadcast via Facebook and Google as well as in print media, but the focus in all this is on the young people. Both the visuals and the wording were developed in cooperation with voestalpine apprentices, who also are the main actors in the visuals and testimonials. The campaign slogan, “I choose,” stands for self-determination, but it also embodies its youth-centered focus and serves as its lynchpin, creatively speaking. The website—www.voestalpine.com/ichoose—has the same look and feel as the large number of short videos and photographs it features and is the starting point for submitting an apprenticeship application to voestalpine.
Tenth anniversary of the group apprentice day
The voestalpine Group Apprentice Day celebrated its tenth anniversary in calendar year 2022. So far, the ten events have drawn some 4,000 apprentices and trainees. The Group Apprentice Day is a special event in an apprenticeship. In the program’s final year, all trainees and apprentices are invited to the Group’s headquarters in Linz to spend an eventful day that includes a talk with Management Board members, a tour of the plant, team challenges along with a lot of other fun and action. Often enough, this day is the first opportunity for many apprentices and trainees to meet the entire Management Board of the voestalpine Group and to tour the Linz plant. Every year’s event has featured a different slogan to inspire the young target audience, yet one thing has stayed the same throughout: voestalpine’s pride and respect for its young skilled workers, for they are the backbone of the Group and its production plants.
Some 450 voestalpine apprentices from 40 training facilities in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland participated in the 10th Group Apprentice Day on November 29, 2022. The event was livestreamed from voestalpine Stahlwelt in Linz. Many different activities imbued the digital event with a spirit of commonality and connection. This included a live question-and-answer session with the Management Board, a selfie video of the participants, and a team challenge following the “Escape the Room” format with questions to voestalpine. The slogan for the Group Apprentice Day—”I choose voestalpine”—matches that of the current apprenticeship campaign.