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ThyssenKrupp Helps Safeguard Jobs for Skilled Workers
08/25/2009 - Since July, ThyssenKrupp Nirosta and the employment agency Agentur für Arbeit Krefeld have implemented a new approach in Germany to safeguarding jobs for skilled workers who have completed their apprenticeships.
Since July, ThyssenKrupp Nirosta and the employment agency Agentur für Arbeit Krefeld have implemented a new approach in Germany to safeguarding jobs for skilled workers who have completed their apprenticeships.
Christiane Schönefeld, head of the North Rhine-Westphalia branch of the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit), and Klaus-Peter Hennig, Human Resources Director at ThyssenKrupp Nirosta, recently presented the concept, which enables companies to secure their skilled-labor needs by offering short-time work and further training.
Young skilled workers at ThyssenKrupp Nirosta are given additional training in all areas of the cold rolling mills and melt shops, with the focus on production, maintenance, and quality assurance. One-hundred trained employees who are not required to work in the company’s operations are combined in a personnel pool and placed on “0” short-time work. The employment agency pays short-time compensation of 60 or 67%, and ThyssenKrupp Nirosta raises the amount to 90%.
The short-time work runs for a period of 12 months, during which the workers undergo further training at the Krefeld, Benrath, Bochum and Dillenburg sites. They learn basic theory that goes beyond their apprentice training and reinforce it through practical work. The trainers, who are experienced ThyssenKrupp Nirosta employees with qualifications that cover all areas of the cold rolling mill and steel melting shop, are each responsible for five trainees.
This training program is being financed with money from the European Social Fund.
“Young skilled workers who are not offered any reliable prospects in the profession they have learnt because of the economic crisis will look to find work in other areas, accept temporary employment as semi-skilled or unskilled workers, or become unemployed and fall behind altogether,” explained Schönefeld. “These skilled young people are lost to the company. In many cases, they are also no longer available as skilled workers. Anyone who can offer intelligent solutions and viable prospects will be at a definite advantage when the economy picks up again.”
The training measures are supported by external trainers, who guarantee the quality of the programs. This is a condition for obtaining TÜV (technical inspectorate) and Chamber of Commerce certificates.
“In recent years the apprentice training policy at ThyssenKrupp Nirosta has already been responding to the demographic shift, focusing on strategically reducing the average age of the workforce and building up a strategic personnel pool as a labor reserve,” said Hennig. “The company has also provided apprentice training beyond its own needs. The guided transfer of knowledge under the JAN [“Young and old for Nirosta”] project met with a very positive response from young and old.
“Young skilled workers who are not offered any reliable prospects in the profession they have learnt because of the economic crisis will look to find work in other areas, accept temporary employment as semi-skilled or unskilled workers, or become unemployed and fall behind altogether,” explained Schönefeld. “These skilled young people are lost to the company. In many cases, they are also no longer available as skilled workers. Anyone who can offer intelligent solutions and viable prospects will be at a definite advantage when the economy picks up again.”
The training measures are supported by external trainers, who guarantee the quality of the programs. This is a condition for obtaining TÜV (technical inspectorate) and Chamber of Commerce certificates.
“In recent years the apprentice training policy at ThyssenKrupp Nirosta has already been responding to the demographic shift, focusing on strategically reducing the average age of the workforce and building up a strategic personnel pool as a labor reserve,” said Hennig. “The company has also provided apprentice training beyond its own needs. The guided transfer of knowledge under the JAN [“Young and old for Nirosta”] project met with a very positive response from young and old.
“But due to the economic crisis, ThyssenKrupp Nirosta has had to rethink its personnel policy in the light of new conditions such as underutilization of capacities, personnel overhangs, short-time work, and a lack of opportunities to use this strategic personnel pool. A new HR strategy takes account of the need for [flexibility] and optimization and aims to adapt the shift model from 21 to 18 shifts.”
In North Rhine-Westphalia, 101,520 unemployed people at the end of July were younger than 25 years old — 16,580 more than in June. Year-on-year unemployment in this age group was up by 17,660, or more than 21%.
In July, 14,330 people registered as unemployed in North Rhine-Westphalia after completing an apprenticeship. In the first seven months of 2009, the number of newly registered unemployed people totaled 26,650, almost 19% more than in the comparable prior-year period.
