Germany looks for talent in the Catalan FP

The collaboration between the Chamber and the Jesuits is intended for higher degree students of Industrial Mechatronics, who are offered the possibility of finishing the two courses of this cycle to do a third course deepening of the profession. This course combines two days of theoretical classes at school and three days of paid practices in the company. In addition, students are offered the possibility of following a course in english or german. The program has zero cost for the student. It is the companies involved, mostly German-based, that assume the amount: about 9,200 euros per student for training and a minimum internship grant of 360 euros per month that the student receives directly. At the end of the course, the student obtains the official title of Germany. It is also common for companies to offer young people the option of continuing to work with them. The average salary of these specialists is around, to begin with, 24,000 euros per year.

The German Chamber of Commerce has been promoting projects like this for years. Initially, it started with administrative specialties and in Madrid, but the companies proposed doing it in technical branches as well. It was seven years ago that the Mechatronics 2+1 was launched in Madrid. And it was the same companies once again that proposed doing it in other cities as well. This course has started in Barcelona. “It is a highly requested professional profile because it is very transversal and most companies that have factories with industrial production are looking for these workers,” he explains. Tanja Nausetraining director of the Chamber.

Among the participating companies Siemens, Linde, Still, Multivac Group or Kuka. There are 3 students signed up for this course. For the 22-23 academic year there will be between 7 and 8 places. “And there’s a girl signed up,” he celebrates Fernando Manzanodirector of FP of the Jesuits, who hopes that more and more female students will be interested in technical degrees and that the gender gap that still exists in FP will be broken.

“Our intention is to grow, but it will depend on the companies that are interested in financing this training,” Nause emphasizes, detailing that the Chamber is looking for companies and is also in charge of the student selection process and official exams. In Madrid, there are between 18 and 22 students. In Vitoria, between 13 and 15. So Barcelona has room to grow. “The Department of Education knows and sees the project well. The idea is internationalize, make visible and improve Vocational Training“, points out the training director of the Chamber. Although the entity usually works with Jesuits and Salesians, “because they have a long tradition in the field of FP”, it also collaborates with public centers, such as the Esteve Terradas Institute in Cornellà.

The profile of the student who is interested in this course is that of someone who wants to continue training. “Mechatronics has a lot of job opportunities. Most students already leave here with a job. The 2+1 interests those who think more about the future,” says Manzano. It is the case of Xavi Boat and of Adria Tormos, two of the youngsters who have premiered this 2+1. Barco has two higher degrees, Mechatronics and Automation and Robotics. “I was interested because the German companies looked good,” he explains. He is happy. He practices in Siemensin the engineering that this has in seats. “I program, I coordinate a team and I do maintenance work,” she says.

Tormos practices in Still. “I was interested in the program because I wanted to continue studying and the offer seemed motivating. Training and the German title can open doors for me and give me the opportunity to study, learn and work with a salary,” she says. At Still, she is in charge of managing the workshop, repairing machines and supporting other technicians. The company has already offered to continue. He is thinking about it because he likes the field of automation more than mechanics. Both Barco and Tormos take German classes at the Goethe Institute.

“For companies this is an investment. Create a talent pool“, emphasizes Nause, who admits that this idea is part of the German company DNA, which does not mind investing in training to look for talent and have its own quarry. A system that characterizes German VET, managed not by the Administration, but by the chambers of commerce, which is why the link with the business world and the relationship with the needs of the labor market is so intense.