Mauser Packaging Solutions launched the North American Apprenticeship Program in the fall of 2019 to invest and develop the skill sets of our next generation of employees. Modeled after the successful European apprenticeship program used by our International Packaging business unit, the North American Apprenticeship Program concentrates on developing mechanical and electrical skill sets over a three-year educational and technical training program.
The North American program is a dual commitment between the apprentice and Mauser. The program provides apprentices education, paid in full by Mauser, and hands-on experience in exchange for a three-year employment commitment after the program’s completion. The company stands to benefit from both the apprentice’s time in the facility training and then as a full-time, fully trained, committed employee following the program.
“The North American apprenticeship program is an effort to provide a solution to the shortage of trained maintenance technicians. We have an abundance of internal knowledge and resources that we can use to recruit, train, and retain our US manufacturing workforce,” said Bruno Couteille, Executive Vice President of Human Resources.
In our German offices and facilities, apprentices are accepted primarily as Industrial Clerks, IT-Specialists, or in Technical positions. As apprentices, office-based Industrial Clerks and IT-Specialists rotate through a variety of commercial departments including human resources, purchasing, logistics, IT operations/production, and customer service. Whereas Technical apprentices work directly in the facilities with maintenance and production technicians to learn electrical, mechanical, and welding skills needed to perform maintenance while attending external training courses for several months.
The completion of a German apprenticeship is often not the end of a student’s career path with Mauser. For apprentices wishing to pursue university education, Mauser offers tuition reimbursement. Many apprentices graduate from university to become Mauser mentors for the next generation of apprentices. This facilitates a natural transfer of knowledge from one generation of employees to the next and is vital to the success of Mauser.
The effectiveness of the Mauser Packaging Solutions’ Apprenticeship Program is evident in the many participants who have continued to contribute to Mauser through long lasting successful careers. The program’s ability to organically establish a sustainable workforce makes it a natural blueprint for replication in other areas of the company.