Today, 724 young people are starting their vocational training at Audi. 483 apprentices are beginning their working lives at the company’s headquarters in Ingolstadt and 241 are starting at the Neckarsulm site. The proportion of young women is constantly growing and will exceed 29 percent this year. AUDI AG currently offers apprenticeships in 22 different occupations, four of which also result in the qualification to study at a university of applied sciences. In addition, six dual study courses are offered at the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm sites.
“Vorsprung durch Technik” implies an obligation: Most of the new apprentices, a total of 676 young people, will be training for a industrial-technical occupation, with courses in areas such as manufacturing processes, automation, automotive technology and logistics. Another 48 new entrants have decided in favor of a commercial or IT apprenticeship. The proportion of women amongst the new trainees is approximately 29 percent, which is another two percentage points higher than in the previous year. 40 young people will acquire the entrance qualifications for universities of applied sciences in parallel with their occupational training. For the first time, this year’s new apprentices include six young Spaniards, who were unable to find employment in their own country. In the context of projects with the Association of the Bavarian Metalworking and Electrical Industries and the Baden-Württemberg employer association Südwestmetall, Audi advertised the mechatronics apprenticeships for the first time also in Spain.
Being able to welcome so many young and motivated youngsters as new Audinbsp;employees is always a moving moment for me,” said Prof. Thomas Sigi, Board of Management Member for Human Resources and Labor Relations Director at AUDI AG. “Vocational training at Audi is a successful model that we are now also gradually establishing at our sites outside Germany,” continued Sigi.
Peter Mosch, Chairman of the General Works Council of AUDI AG, stated: “A qualified and motivated workforce forms the basis for our company’s success. We therefore permanently examine which qualifications are crucial in the present and the future, because apprentices in important occupations of the future ensure that we maintain our ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ over the long term.”
“Vocational training at Audi is constantly being further developed and reacts to the changing requirements of the working world,” explained Dieter Omert, Head of the Training Department at Audi. In this way, the future automotive mechatronics learn how to deal with high-voltage technology; the occupation of car-body and vehicle specialist has been further developed in the direction of lightweight construction and the commercial apprenticeship has been extensively modernized. In Neckarsulm, Audi will for the first time have apprenticeships for materials testers in metal technology in 2015. “Our occupational training always takes account not only of the present expertise requirements, but also of those facing us in the future,” explained Omert.
There is continued high demand for positions on the courses of dual study: In Ingolstadt, 24 school leavers with the “Abitur” (university entrance qualification) will begin the so-called StEP program (Studies and Experience in Practice). These young people will gain occupational training as well as a bachelor’s degree in engineering at the Technical University of Ingolstadt over a period of five years. In Neckarsulm, Audi is cooperating with the Baden-Württemberg University of Cooperative Education (DHBW), where 18 young people will start a three-year dual course of study leading to a bachelor’s degree in early October, in which 12-week theory units alternate with practical periods at Audi.
Apprentices, participants in the StEP program and students at the DHBW will be taken on into permanent employment after completing their courses. The possibility to gain experience at the group’s sites outside Germany is an additional aspect that makes Audi an attractive employer.
Approximately 10,000 young people applied for apprenticeships at Audi this year. Anyone deciding at the last minute can still apply for apprenticeship year 2015: until September 14 for the Neckarsulm site and until September 26 for Ingolstadt. Applications are to be submitted online at www.audi.de/ausbildung.