VERBUND expands apprentice training in Ybbs and Kaprun

02.09.2009Vienna

1 September saw 45 young people in Ybbs and Kaprun starting an apprenticeship at Verbund, Austria’s leading producer of electricity from hydropower.

The age structure, as well as the increasing demands for maintenance and revitalization of existing sites, is leading to an increased need for personnel at the VERBUND Group. For this reason, the company is taking on a record number of 45 apprentices in 2009. “VERBUND has a great need for power plant technicians, but great investments are going to be made in new buildings and the revitalization of existing facilities,” said Mag. Michael Amerer, representative for apprentice training at the VERBUND Group.

The first day of training is an important date for VERBUND’s Kaprun site: from this year onwards, 15 apprentices will be trained annually. VERBUND is therewith tying in with a long tradition of apprentice training, which was temporarily put on hold at the end of the 1990’s during the course of the deregulation of the electricity market. The necessary alterations to the training workshop in Kaprun cost 4.5 million euro. “We provide excellent training with outstanding prospects for the professional future of our apprentices. A modern infrastructure is a basic prerequisite if we are to continue to meet these demands, as well as VERBUND’s high standards of quality,” said Michael Amerer, explaining the expansion at the Kaprun site. Over four years of apprenticeship, this results in 60 new training places in a much sought-after occupational profile: the dual profession of electrical and mechanical engineer.

VERBUND annually invests around 2.3 million euro in the qualitative training of its apprentices. The quality of the training has been proven: for decades, the rate of those completing the course is almost 100%: almost all graduates of VERBUND apprenticeship programs successfully complete their training. VERBUND is particularly proud of the fact that, so far, half of those apprentices taking part in the current apprenticeship examinations have passed with honours.

Following the basic training in the first year of apprenticeship, a four- to six-week intense training takes place in the further years of apprenticeship. In preparation for their future assignments, the last two years of apprenticeship sees the apprentices being trained directly at the power plant sites, which they will later supervise as skilled workers.

Young people, or their parents, interested in an apprenticeship with the best prospects for the future should immediately contact the VERBUND recruiting hotline: 050313-54155. Most sought-after are apprentices for the dual professional of electrical and mechanical engineer. Further information is also available on the Internet under: www.karriere.at/f/verbund.