Audi plans to train 534 apprentices in Ingolstadt as of autumn 2016, compared with the 493 taken on last year. At its second German site in Neckarsulm, the company intends to increase the number of apprenticeships from 238 to 273. The total at the two sites will therefore rise by about 10.5 percent. Most of the additional apprenticeships will be in the areas of mechatronics, informatics, body construction and vehicle construction. The additional young entrants will start what is generally a three‑year apprenticeship in September 2016. As a result, the total number of apprentices at the company will increase by about 230 to more than 2,700 by the year 2018.
“In order to achieve our strategic corporate goals, we are increasingly investing in our own vocational training, especially in the pioneering technologies of the future,” stated Audi’s Board of Management Member for Human Resources Thomas Sigi. “In this way, we will ensure that we have key expertise at the company over the long term. At the same time, we are assuming social responsibility for our sites in the home country.” Sigi explained that the additional apprentices will be taken on into permanent employment following their successful training, as is usual at Audi.
Audi General Works Council Chairman Peter Mosch: “More apprentices are a clear signal of the company’s ongoing growth. This has always been a priority of the Audi Works Council and that will continue to be the case in the future.”
Norbert Rank, Chairman of the Neckarsulm Works Council: “Well‑trained and qualified employees are a precondition for us to produce high‑quality automobiles. Especially in view of our rising unit sales, we welcome the additional apprenticeships and regard them as safeguarding the future of the sites in Neckarsulm and Ingolstadt.”
Technological progress in the fields of electrification, digitalization and the connected factory is a key feature of the brand’s new vocational training. For example, informatics experts that specialize in systems integration will be given further training in electrics and electronics at Audi. With this expanded competence, the new occupation will have a key role to play in the digital factory. Experts in body and automobile construction will also receive training in lightweight construction, allowing them to master various materials such as aluminum, steel and carbon fiber. At the Neckarsulm site, Audi this year started to train material testers with a focus on metal technology. Audi is developing new expertise profiles also in view of growing complexity in the diversity of automotive components and global logistics.
“With innovative and quality‑oriented vocational training, we will master the challenges of the future at Audi,” stated Dieter Omert, head of vocational training and specialist competence development. “But we also want to contribute generally towards making the system of dual training attractive for young people.”
Note: Interested persons can apply for the coming apprentice intake in Ingolstadt from July 27 to September 25, 2015; applications in Neckarsulm will be accepted between July 20 and September 13, 2015. All applications are to be submitted to Audi online at www.audi.de/ausbildung.