Both Tadano and Gerbrüder Weiss have awarded apprenticeships to young people wishing to progress in the industry.
Heavy-duty equipment manufacturer Tadano is welcoming 27 apprentices to its facilities in Lauf and Zweibrücken in 2021.
At the Lauf location, six apprentices are training for a career as production mechanics and agricultural and construction equipment mechatronics. At the Zweibrücken site, 21 young men and women are learning the ropes for their chosen career path, with apprenticeships ranging from steel construction and industrial mechanics, body shop paint technicians, mechatronics technicians, precision mechanics, agricultural and construction equipment mechatronics and IT specialists to industrial business management assistants.
Frank Schättle, head of human resources at Tadano Europe, said: “We are delighted to be in a position to offer a good number of apprenticeships in these difficult times, and to find suitable candidates for them all. We consider training and apprenticeships an investment in the future that we leverage to ensure that the next generation of desperately needed specialists will be available.”
At freight forwarding group Gebrüder Weiss, 90 young people started their training this year at locations in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. The company said that it has been relying ever more on digital solutions and channels than conventional face-to-face events (such as training events) to get young applicants interested in the logistics industry and to engage them in a dialog.
“Job security is a very important factor for young applicants when deciding where they want to work. Gebrüder Weiss stands for sustainable economic success and has done so for generations,” said Monika Mandl, head of human resources development at Gebrüder Weiss. The company currently has 254 apprentices across 33 locations.
Recruitment was highlighted as a key challenge facing the logistics sector in our dedicated report published in our July/August edition. Truck driver shortages are an acute issue in many markets, notably in the UK as it tackles Brexit-related disruption, and the USA where demand has skyrocketed.
Speaking to HLPFI in that report, Jason Dickens of Rockbottom Consulting said: “With the current skills shortage we need to recruit from a targeted, yet wide range of candidates. And companies are conscious that they want a better balance, especially at the board and steering committee level.”
One of the keys to increasing diversity, particularly at senior level, is to ensure diversity when recruiting people entering the industry, Dickens explained.
“It is not so easy to bring in people at more senior level from outside the industry. Maybe you can for HSE and IT roles, but generally we need people with hands-on experience who have sustained experience developed across our industry.
“That is why we are so reliant on entry-level candidates coming into the business. It is a niche and specialist industry. We need a steady flow of entrants coming into the business. If you look at the senior level executives within our industry, you’ll find that virtually all of them have developed from entry-level opportunities.”
