"The day was great! It was an excellent experience, especially for the apprentices who will remember this far beyond their apprenticeship."
Florian Braun (trainer at Komzet Bau Bühl, Germany)
The shortage of skilled labour in Germany is increasing year on year. In 2022, there were around 63,000 vacant apprenticeship positions and this trend is rising. In the construction industry, 60% of apprenticeship positions actually remained vacant. To counteract this trend, STABILA has launched the My1STABILA campaign along with the My1STABILA Day. The objective... To showcase trades and support young people completing training in the trade sector as well as inspiring others to take on this versatile career path.
Last year, STABILA also visited training centres across the whole of Germany. These visits continued this year as part of the My1STABILA campaign. During this year's visits, the question kept popping up: "When can we actually visit you in Annweiler?" Therefore, we came up with the idea of dedicating a whole day to supporting young talent as part of the campaign. No sooner said than planned and implemented: On 24 June 2022, it was finally time.
More than 100 apprentices from training centres in Saarbrücken, Bühl, Limburg, Pforzheim and Karlsruhe set out early in the morning to attend the first My1STABILA Day at the STABILA site. The preparations on site had already been in full swing for several days. The eventful day started with a joint welcoming speech by the CEO Ulrich Dähne, Director of Sales and Marketing Holger Binder, and members of the Social Media Team. This was followed by exploring five stations with a variety of content for each group.
The apprentices gained an insight into the range of STABILA products at the STABILA Campus. Spirit levels or lasers – STABILA provides a large variety of quality products suitable for use by apprentices and tradespeople alike. At this station, the visitors were able to ask questions all about the products and left the Campus with a lot of new knowledge. The R-Type-Challenge station tested whether our visitors are just as tough as our measuring devices and provided an impressive demonstration. And of course it was worth gritting their teeth and making sure their group was in first place because the main prize was a R 300 type spirit level signed by CEO Ulrich Dähne.
Following their win, the apprentices could then head straight to the photo station to have their picture taken. The apprentices gathered in large and small groups in front of the popular "Be a True Pro" photo wall and the photo booth printed the photos straight away for them to take home.
Every apprentice also got to take home a T-shirt they designed themselves. A special creation station was available at the My1STABILA Day where white T-shirts, spray cans and templates were available for them to give their creativity free rein. Regardless of whether the design was colourful, monochrome or freestyle, the results at the station were impressive. Of course, a day at the STABILA site just wouldn't be as good if you didn't get to visit the Production department! Therefore, each group had their own behind the scenes tour of the STABILA factory, witnessed the production of a spirit level and was able to gain an insight into what spirit levels "Made in Germany" are all about. Nobody had to worry about going hungry during the event – burgers, chips, cold drinks and ice cream were all available during the breaks and could be enjoyed outdoors along with the great weather.
Everyone gathered at the STABILA Campus at the end of the day for the final farewell. Jule Jason, a WorldSkills participant, Stephanie Werth from WorldSkills Germany, and Ilona Klein from the Zentralverband Deutsches Baugewerbe (Central Association of the German Construction Industry) provided guests with exciting details about participating in a competition such as WorldSkills or EuroSkills. Questions from the apprentices about products were answered directly by STABILA. A very versatile day was concluded with some closing words from the Social Media Team. In summary: – it was a great day!