OREANDA-NEWS. February 29, 2016. High-quality training for those starting out on their careers is a longstanding tradition at thyssenkrupp. The high apprentice training rate of around 5.5% and continuous improvements in the quality of training are proof of this. The latest example is thyssenkrupp Steel Europe – the company has concluded an internal collective agreement with the IG Metall trade union for apprentices on integrated degree courses. The agreement improves support for the combined apprenticeship/degree course model. It regulates payments toward study and examination fees, allowances for working materials and additional paid leave for examinations and tests. The collective agreement also makes provision for those on integrated courses who have completed their apprenticeship and are already working at the company: They are assigned a study/work position and guaranteed day shifts. Career development at the company is also assured: Successful completion of the course guarantees students a permanent contract, while young talents are also offered annual development meetings.

Oliver Burkhard, Member of the Executive Board and Labor Director of thyssenkrupp AG, emphasizes the strengths of integrated degree courses: “Young people can apply the theory they learn directly at the company and gain professional experience at an early stage. They learn about cooperation with colleagues, company structures and how to transfer knowledge to real projects.” This is a great advantage for thyssenkrupp as a company, as Burkhard said on Thursday at a Group youth and apprentice representatives’ conference in Essen.

The collective agreement that has now been signed will further improve the framework conditions for apprentices on integrated degree courses at the Group. “We are proud of the agreement we have negotiated as both apprenticeships and degrees cost money, time and energy. Apprentices on integrated courses are therefore often subject to a dual burden. They need collectively agreed arrangements to support them and offer them perspectives. As IG Metall we will do everything we can to ensure that this success does not remain a one-off and that more and more students on integrated courses can enjoy the benefits of collective agreements,” said Marc Otten, regional youth secretary for IG Metall North Rhine-Westphalia at the conference.

thyssenkrupp is a diversified industrial group with traditional strengths in materials and a growing share of capital goods and services businesses. Around 155,000 employees in nearly 80 countries work with passion and technological expertise to develop high-quality products and intelligent industrial processes as well as services for sustainable progress. Their skills and commitment are the basis of our success. In fiscal year 2014/2015, thyssenkrupp generated sales of around €43 billion.

Together with our customers, we develop competitive solutions for the challenges of the future in the areas Mechanical, Plant and Materials. With our engineering expertise, we enable our customers to gain an edge in the global market and to manufacture innovative products in a cost- and resource-friendly way. For us, technical progress and innovations, allied with the combined strength of the Group, are key factors enabling us to meet current and future customer and market requirements around the world, to grow with the markets of the future, and generate strong and stable earnings, cash flows and value growth.