The path to sustainable employment
With the WeGebAU programme, the Federal Employment Agency enables 11 experienced employees of Lobbe Industrieservice to obtain a vocational qualification and thus improve their employment prospects.
School desks, swotting over books and instead of barbecues, learning communities are the order of the day. What is normal for a 15-year-old was quite something for the candidates who wanted to do their skilled worker's certificate after many years of working. "We too are feeling the effects of the shortage of skilled labour. That's why we decided to try new solutions," says Lisa Stalp, Human Resources Manager at Lobbe Industrieservice.
The company found support from the joint employer service of the Duisburg Employment Agency and the Duisburg Job Centre with advice on the WeGebAU programme. With the "Further training of low-skilled and employed older workers in companies", the Duisburg Employment Agency has a funding option whose abbreviation WeGebAU is also a programme. Petra Neu, Managing Director of Operations at the Duisburg Employment Agency, describes the programme as follows: "The Employment Agency can use it to build a path to a better level of qualification for employees and a path to qualified personnel for companies. As at Lobbe Industrieservice, for example, we promote the preparation of unskilled employees for the final examination before the responsible chamber. In this way, the company obtains new skilled workers and the employees create better career prospects for themselves with the skilled worker qualification. It is a well-known fact that skilled workers are much less likely to become unemployed or - if they are made redundant - to find a new job more quickly. Congratulations to the new skilled workers on their perseverance and successful completion!"
Lobbe Industrieservice has helped semi-skilled workers, some of whom have been with the company for many years, to catch up on their qualifications. A total of 11 candidates now have a recognised vocational qualification as pipe, sewer and industrial service specialists. Sebastian Schulz, a 46-year-old family man, is one of them: "Of course you have the knowledge after so many years of work - but it was still important for me to finally have a proper qualification to be a role model for my son." Schulz is the father of two sons, one of whom is eight years old and is already thinking about his career choice. Always answering the question: "Dad, what are you?" with an embarrassed shrug of the shoulders, Sebastian Schulz didn't want that any more. So the 46-year-old decided to go back to school and found that "it wasn't as bad as I first feared! Now Sebastian Schulz is justifiably proud of himself - in addition to the skilled worker's diploma, he also has a portion of self-confidence for free. "I would do it again at any time," he sums up.
Within a good year, the candidates acquired the technical knowledge that is usually taught in the apprenticeship in three years - so a lot of learning material had to be mastered in a short time. "We met on Saturdays at the company and learned together - that was motivating. And Lobbe also gave us time off for the theoretical lessons," reports David Bürks. At 29, he had also long since left the classroom behind. "I didn't want to miss the chance to get a proper degree with the support of the employer." Bürks came to Lobbe through a temporary employment agency and had been a permanent employee there since 2013 - albeit as an unskilled worker. "The exam was really not easy, especially maths gave me a headache," says the father of two boys. "But the one year went by really quickly. Now I can be really proud of myself.
Lisa Stalp, Wernfried Steinau (Operations Manager) and Christian Melchert (Training Manager) closely supervised the candidates and trembled with them: "Those who really had respect for the exam and had to fight with themselves even passed with flying colours - and that's what we're most happy about!" And it is not only the freshly graduated skilled workers who can be proud. Lobbe is happy to have experienced employees who know the processes and circumstances of the customers and now also have their degree in their pocket.
Dietmar Faust, project manager of the education provider arvaport Dienstleistungsgesellschaft mbH, describes the preconditions that were important for the success of the project: "This success was only made possible by the combined use of special education and funding policy conditions, which are unfortunately still too little known. But of decisive importance was the motivation of the participants and the willingness of the Lobbe company to simply tackle such an educational project for their employees, something we unfortunately do not always encounter. It is only thanks to the close and competent cooperation between the employer, the employment agency in Duisburg and arvaport GmbH that we were able to offer the employees of the Lobbe company such a precisely fitting and targeted post-qualification measure in the first place. The final result that has now been achieved is not only worthy of all honour, but also a confirmation that such results can be achieved through the committed cooperation of those involved. We are particularly pleased for the participants, who started the measure somewhat excited and have now received the well-deserved reward for their efforts. Congratulations on that."
Information from Lobbe Industrieservice about the company: Lobbe provides consistent service in the areas of refurbishment, industrial services and waste disposal. Environmental protection and resource conservation are topics that are becoming increasingly important. Lobbe is an innovative, technology-oriented company with over 1800 employees in the field of environmental services. The principle of the medium-sized family business is to train for its own needs.
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