Apprenticeship offensive

Instead of complaining: Companies roll up their sleeves

Although the shortage of skilled workers is a major concern for local companies, the number of companies offering apprenticeships in Upper Austria fell last year. What is behind this? We wanted to find out and also found out which companies are now starting to train young people from scratch.

From 5444 training companies in Upper Austria, the number fell to 5315 in the previous year. How can this happen when the call for skilled workers seems to be louder than ever? "Some simply can't get any apprentices and therefore can't train anyone," explains Doris Hummer.

At the same time, the President of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce also notes that companies are only now really taking off in terms of apprenticeship training: "Interest is increasing - for example in the banking and insurance sectors." But it's not just in the world of numbers that things are moving, an automation specialist is also becoming an apprenticeship company for the first time: B&R!

Three professions in the start-up phase
"We will be starting apprenticeship training in the fall," revealed Angelika Voit, Head of Human Resources at B&R Austria. The company from Eggelsberg is starting out with three professions: operational logistics, IT systems engineering, and application development and programming.

Why take this step? "We had an incredible influx of students from technical colleges," says boss Jörg Theis, who reveals: "This source is drying up a bit. That's why we had to start looking left and right and said, now we're going to do something and train people ourselves."

AMAG entices with the "sweetest apprenticeship"
From metal and welding technology to installation and building technology, the opportunities at AMAG are wide-ranging. But now the aluminum producer is also training apprentices as chefs and confectioners. How is this possible? The company's own restaurant has been expanded and Reinhard Stockinger, an experienced restaurateur, is now running the business. AMAG is delighted with this further development and is enticing people with the "sweetest apprenticeship".