Matthias Rust, Head of Human Resources Project Mexico, Laura Ceballos, Head of Competence Development and Klaus-Peter Körner, the future Head of Production at the new Audi site, welcomed the Mexican apprentices in Puebla. “As a premium manufacturer, Audi offers first-class training worldwide,” stated Rust to the new entrants. He promised them three exciting apprenticeship years: “You will get to know not only the technical side, but also working in a team and encountering new cultures.”
In the next three years, the future skilled workers will receive a sound framework for their later careers at the Institute for Training and Development of Volkswagen de Mexico. After completing their apprenticeships, the young technicians will support the start of production of the next-generation Audi Q5 at the new plant in San José Chiapa as of mid-2016. A second group will start their apprenticeships in January 2014. Applications to participate in that group can be made online on the Mexican Audi website as of October. (www.audi.com.mx).
The official online application portal went into operation on the Audi Mexico website this week. This tool also provides a simple application procedure to candidates who are interested not in an apprenticeship but in working for Audi in Mexico. The applicants can process their documents electronically and can then upload them on the website. By the time of the start of production in mid-2016, Audi will have created approximately 3,800 jobs at the car plant in San José Chiapa. About 3,650 applications have already been received.
With the first group of apprentices in Mexico, the dual training system is developing into a real export success at the Audi Group. At its sites all over the world, the premium manufacturer is combining the proven theoretical education of local technical colleges with practical experience in the company’s apprentice workshops. At Audi Hungary, the dual training system has already been in operation for twelve years, since 2011 with its own training center. In addition to the dual training system, since last year, Audi has also offered a dual course of study according to the German model in Hungary, initiated in cooperation with Győrer Széchenyi University. At the Audi site in Brussels, the dual training system is currently operating in a pilot phase. Audi is the first industrial company to offer this form of occupational training. In China, Audi is cooperating with the occupational training college in Changchun and is continuously expanding this cooperation. The goal is to qualify 650 apprentices as automotive mechatronics each year as of 2015.