From March 11th to 17th 2024, the "Apprenticeship Week" took place once again, organized annually by the Federal Employment Agency. The aim is to highlight the importance, opportunities, and benefits of vocational training.

This year, we at VTI also participated in this initiative and invited for exchanges.

Photo (Federal Employment Agency) / from left to right: Mayor Dr. Roland Schröder, Lara Austermeier and Jörg Schmitz (VTI), Sabine Bergmann and Christina Schatz (Federal Employment Agency), Lutz Lohmann (VTI), Fabian Scheckel, Andreas Tewes, and Daniel Trzebinski (VTI), and Andrea Swoboda (City of Menden).

"How can young people be encouraged to pursue vocational training?"

This was the core question of the discussion given the current shortage of skilled workers. At VTI, we make significant efforts to attract and retain young talents in the long term. In addition to team-building measures such as the annual "Apprentice Trip", we provide individual support to our apprentices and give a chance to seemingly weaker candidates in the application process. Furthermore, we offer important long-term prospects: for example, the employment rates after apprenticeship as a machining technician are nearly 100 percent.

A good example: Fabian Scheckel

Currently, we are training industrial clerks, technical product designers and machining technicians. We currently have eleven apprentices. One of them is Fabian Scheckel. The 31-year-old from Menden started his apprenticeship as a machining technician with us in the summer of 2023. After dropping out of a mechanical engineering degree, he initially worked as a helper in the metal industry until he realized, "That's not enough for me. I want to learn something meaningful again and have better prospects." He found this with us. "The apprenticeship is exactly my thing," adds Scheckel.

Photo (Employment Agency): from left to right: Training Manager Daniel Trzebinski, Apprentice Fabian Scheckel, Managing Director Lutz Lohmann, and Operations Manager Andreas Tewes.