In exactly one week, many apprentices in the district of lichtenfels will begin their first year of training. The new phase of life brings many changes: new daily routines, new tasks and new colleagues. The first people they meet are usually their trainers. At toolmaker siegfried hofmann, who won the prestigious "bavaria's best 50" business award in july received, are reinhold meixner and reinhard huhnlein. The two have been teaching young people their trade for over 30 years. They know exactly what makes the trainees tick and how they have to deal with them.
Most of them are quiet and shy in the first few days, says huhnlein. "In the beginning they are still quite good", adds meixner and laughs. They pretend to be something other than what they really are, they have to settle in first and try to listen well. "After a year or so, they thaw out", he says.
Safety first
13 trainees become impetus providers at hofmann on 1. Start their work in september. Seven more at hofmann moglichmacher. All 20 are deployed in the training workshop. In the first year, the newcomers to both companies learn the same thing: "in the beginning, it's just file, file, file", explains meixner. So the young people can get to know the materials.
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but before they are allowed to use the tools for the first time, the company explains to them the safety regulations in the company. And on the first day, the focus is on getting to know each other. "It takes one or two days before they are allowed to handle a file", says meixner.
The two trainers have different priorities in their work. Huhnlein pays particular attention to order in the workplace. The tools and measuring equipment should be clean and orderly. While for meixner it's more the quality of the end product that counts. "So we both complement each other very well", says huhnlein.
Statistics: trainees urgently needed in the lichtenfels district
despite all the attention, the trainees still make a few mistakes, of course. It starts with not obeying the rules of conduct and a lack of order. The ignorance of newcomers to the trade sometimes leads to minor mishaps. A trainee once threw a spray can into the trash can with great force, says meixner. Only the can of touching blue landed on a nail and exploded. "It looked like a smurf", he says and laughs again.
With 20 new trainees, hofmann werkzeugbau is doing comparatively well. All the positions offered were filled. For bastian girg, head of marketing and communications, this is mainly due to the good reputation that the company has built up. In addition, the company is represented at trade fairs, in schools and social networks.
Many companies act similarly today. Nevertheless, 223 positions in the district were still unfilled at the end of july, reports matthias klar, spokesman for the bamberg-coburg employment agency. Only 87 young people were still eligible for the program. Theoretically, there are still around 2.5 apprenticeship positions available for everyone.