Worms (Germany), June 29, 2007 – At a ceremony held today, participants in the Röchling Automotive Worms KG “U 25” project were presented with their examination certificates. The project was undertaken as part of the EQJ entry qualification scheme for young people that in turn forms part of the vocational training pact between the German federal government and a number of organizations. The aim of the pact is to improve employment prospects for unemployed people under 25 years of age without an apprenticeship or comparable job training offer.
Burckhard Frank, a general manager of the Röchling Group and a member of the Management Board of Röchling Automotive, made a special trip from the Group’s headquarters in Mannheim to say a few words in their honor. In his speech he called on others to emulate this social commitment and expressed praise for the hard work put in by all employees concerned. His call will be heeded by Bildungszentrum Müller, Ludwigshafen, which provided the vocational training for the project and is now itself going to accommodate interns, who may later be offered an apprenticeship or traineeship.
Ralf Losem, commercial director of Röchling Automotive in Worms, stressed how successful the project had been. “We are very pleased that all of the candidates passed their examination, and we are truly proud that we will be able to hire all of them.”
His colleague Ulrich Mauß suggested the project in the spring of 2005 considering the official unemployment figures in Worms. These statistics showed 1,139 under-25s to be out of work in the city. As the longstanding general manager of one of the region’s largest employers, Mauß felt obliged to improve the prospects of these young people and to help them begin their working career. That was his motivation in launching the exemplary U 25 project along with the local vocational school, the chamber of industry and commerce, Bildungszentrum Müller in Ludwigshafen, ARGE Worms (municipal welfare department and employment office) and AFB, an employment promotion enterprise. Röchling Automotive offered nearly 50 young people an internship, to be followed by a traineeship for suitable candidates. Twenty-seven of them progressed to this next stage.
All 22 trainees who completed their apprenticeships passed their examinations and are now qualified machine and plant operators. Three of them passed with such good results that they are taking a further year’s training to become process mechanics.
Röchling Automotive’s commitment to combat youth unemployment in Worms has even attracted attention at national level. The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) and the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment have described it as exemplay.
Röchling is a worldwide operating plastics group based in Mannheim, Germany. With 6,000 employees at 54 locations in 18 countries, Röchling today is a leading international plastics processing company. With its High-Performance Plastics and Automotive Plastics divisions, Röchling Group sales total over EUR 1 billion in Europe, America and Asia.
