Executives from the German automotive industry, including Mercedes-Benz Korea, BMW Group Korea, and Volkswagen Korea, gathered to cultivate talent in the domestic automotive industry.
The Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry held a graduation ceremony for the 'Ausbildung' program on the 24th with major German automotive companies. Ausbildung is a German vocational training program introduced in 2017 in Korea, with the core aim of cultivating industry-specific talent through cooperation between the government and corporations.
In Korea, the Ausbildung program specialized in the automotive industry is being operated. German automotive companies select trainees and support them for 36 months with 30% theoretical classes at universities and 70% practical training on-site, also hiring them. It started with general automotive maintenance and has now expanded into body repair, automotive painting, and service advisor fields.
Every year, the Ausbildung selects about 100 to 120 trainees, and this year is expected to record the highest number ever. Including the 58 graduates from the ceremony, a total of 270 individuals have completed the Ausbildung program, and currently, around 320 trainers and 360 trainees are participating.
Tolstun Shtrain, vice president of Benz Korea, said, 'I have been working at Benz for nearly 40 years after receiving education through the German Ausbildung program when I was 16 years old in high school, and I always feel proud to be a graduate of Ausbildung. I hope Korean graduates feel the same way.'