90 trainees start at Heidelberg

This year’s intake started at Heidelberg on September 1, and are located at its sites in Wiesloch-Walldorf/Heidelberg, Brandenburg, Amstetten and Ludwigsburg. Traditionally the largest training site is the Wiesloch-Walldorf plant with 61 new trainees, including 12 students at DHBW in Mannheim. Last year’s total was 54 new trainees. There are also two chef training places at subsidiary Heidelberg Catering Services.

Heidelberg provides training in 14 different technical and commercial careers and, in conjunction with Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW), also offers just under a dozen dual study programs. Overall, 341 young people are currently in training at Heidelberg throughout Germany, including 216 in Wiesloch-Walldorf.

A dozen future mechatronics engineers are undergoing a special form of training at the Wiesloch-Walldorf and Brandenburg sites. As well as the traditional course content in the professional training regulations, the trainees complete special training modules that prepare them for their future work as service engineers. They are to be joined in November by five young refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Nigeria, as explained here.

The total number that have started this year is 10 more than a year ago, and Andreas Blum, head of professional training at the Heidelberg site in Wiesloch-Walldorf, commented: ‘We’re delighted to be able to report a renewed upward trend in recruitment numbers.’

Blum added that almost everyone completing the program currently receives an offer from Heidelberg after their training/studies, with demand for skilled workers growing in all areas of the company. This applies particularly to logistics, where almost all trainees have been taken on, even in the last few difficult years.