BIRKENSTOCK is focusing on the long-term development of its Steinau site by investing in the employees and in promoting young talent. Junior employee development is to be further expanded based on the needs of the individual departments. To better showcase the company and to provide information about the vocational training and career entry opportunities it offers, Germany’s largest footwear manufacturer will introduce plant open days for teachers at local schools toward the end of the year.   

As the company’s vocational training program was established in close cooperation with and in dialogue with the town of Steinau, the Hanau-Gelnhausen-Schlüchtern Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK), and the IG Metall labor union, representatives of these took the opportunity to gain a more in-depth insight into the company’s work processes during a plant visit.

In addition, Malte Jörg Uffeln, Mayor of Steinau an der Straße, Dr. Gunther Quidde, Managing Director of the IHK Hanau-Gelnhausen-Schlüchtern, and Daniel Müller, Secretary of the IG Metall union, were able to talk to Sean Harris, Chief Administration Officer of the BIRKENSTOCK Group, Karl-Heinrich Herber, Managing Director of Birkenstock Productions Hessen GmbH, and Susanne Söhngen, Head of HR Development at BIRKENSTOCK, about the site’s specific features and its development.

“The town of Steinau values the company’s commitment to its site here. We must also wholeheartedly compliment the company on its approach of intensifying its ties with the region. The surrounding municipalities benefit from this commitment, too,” explains Malte Jörg Uffeln, Mayor of Steinau an der Straße.

“For medium-sized enterprises like BIRKENSTOCK in particular with sites away from the major conurbations, attractive vocational training opportunities are the best means of tackling the impending shortage of skilled workers,” says Dr. Gunther Quidde, Managing Director of the IHK Hanau-Gelnhausen-Schlüchtern.

“Based on the positive development of BIRKENSTOCK’s Steinau site in recent years, its future-proof direction is now plain to see. In this respect, the reintroduction of company-based vocational training is very fitting. IG Metall is delighted to support this and is happy to answer any questions regarding vocational training issues,” comments Daniel Müller, Secretary of the IG Metall union.

“With our vocational training, we wish to offer young people optimum career entry opportunities while giving skilled workers, who are much in demand, the qualifications needed within the company. The quality of our vocational training is important to us, so the trainees are mentored and carefully inducted by seasoned coworkers. At the individual stations, they have the opportunity to gain practical experience of the work processes of the jobs they will eventually have,” adds Karl-Heinrich Herber, Managing Director of Birkenstock Productions Hessen GmbH.

In addition to mechatronics technician apprenticeships in Steinau, there will be further positions to be filled in various other areas in the near future, too, based on the company’s positive development. Up-to-date information on this topic can be found on the company’s careers pages at <link http: www.birkenstock-group.com>www.birkenstock-group.com.

The long-standing family-owned enterprise BIRKENSTOCK currently sells its well-known sandals, which are produced in Germany, in 100 countries around the world. BIRKENSTOCK produces the centerpiece of its sandals – the famous footbed made from cork and natural latex – for the global market at its site in Steinau an der Straße in the region of Hesse. The BIRKENSTOCK Group currently has a global workforce of more than 4,000 employees.