Social responsibility Comprehensive vocational training At Blum, we have been systematically training skilled workers for the last 50 years. In that time, we have continually updated our training methods and content to reflect the latest industry developments and requirements. The range of training courses currently delivered covers ten technical apprenticeships: Electrical Engineering, Industrial Metrology, Design Engineering, Plastics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Process Engineering, Toolmaking Engineering, Machining and Logistics Operations. In addition, the Dual Academy pathway is available for Matura graduates, which offers Application Engineering (Coding) as an eleventh apprenticeship alongside Mechatronics. All our training programmes are designed to promote trainees' all-round development, providing them not just with specialist professional skills but also opportunities for personal development. To this end, we have expanded our basic training to include environmental and energy topics and made our TIMEout programme a core component of the first year of our apprenticeships. TIMEout gives apprentices three paid hours per week for sporting activities or team games / exercises. The exceptional quality of Blum's training programme can be seen in the success achieved by Blum's apprentices in various professional competitions. Our apprentices regularly take part in the international WorldSkills and EuroSkills competitions, which are held on alternate years and see apprentices in various fields pitting their skills and talents against one another. Our apprenticeship training also reflects the increasingly international orientation of our company. At all sites where we train apprentices, we apply the standards that we have defined and continuously developed at Blum over the past decades. As part of the holistic approach that underlies our training concept, this includes general content and aspects as well as company-specific subject matter, from both a professional and personal perspective. The international aspect itself is also an important part of the training: Blum apprentices gain valuable experience at various sites around the world as part of the internal EXCHANGE programme. This not only promotes intercultural skills and the independence of young people, but also strengthens their sense of belonging within our company. In the reporting period under consideration, we are currently training 395 skilled workers in Austria, Poland, China and the USA. Of these, 106 were taken on in the reporting period (Austria: 89, Poland: 4, USA: 9, China: 4). Currently, just over 20 % of them are female. All of this goes to show that training is a top priority at Blum, with the aim of retaining the next generation of employees within the company for the long term. This being so, we consider the substantial investments we make in this area to be more than justified. 60 © Copyright by Blum
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