Practical Career Orientation to Address Skilled Labor Shortage

Members’ Evening at JOBLINGE

At the Haus der Technik near Essen Central Station, Dr. Désirée Schulte welcomed more than 20 members of h2-netzwerk-ruhr e.V. to the current members’ evening. This format typically involves visits to member companies, which can present their activities to those in attendance.

This time, the visit was not to a member, but to an organization that can help companies alleviate the existing or anticipated skilled labor shortage. JOBLINGE, a nationwide non-profit stock corporation, has set itself the goal of helping young people who have not yet found a direct path into professional life to achieve a successful start in vocational training through highly practice-oriented programs.

Raphael Karrasch, Managing Director in Essen, and his colleagues Dana Haug and Eva Schlömer presented the working methods and successes of JOBLINGE to the audience in highly informative presentations. Notably: 70 percent of participants remain engaged throughout the entire course duration, and over eighty percent successfully complete the subsequent vocational training.

Education and qualification were the focus of the evening. This was complemented by the contribution from Christian Jaffke, Team Coordinator Renewable Energies at KWS eG, the former Kraftwerksschule. Here, professionals at various qualification levels are trained in working with hydrogen technologies.

The final contribution came from Danny Weiß of HyCon GmbH, who provides hydrogen education programs for secondary schools on behalf of h2-netzwerk-ruhr e.V., using an experiment kit that enables students to build a fuel cell-powered vehicle.

A get-together with oriental refreshments rounded off the successful members’ evening.