KHS banks on young talent

At KHS, the vision is 'First Choice in Technology and Service'. For Anke Fischer, head of Finance, Human Resources and IT, it is about developing raw talent into highly qualified employees who can respond to the needs of their customers. The company therefore raised the number of its apprenticeship by 25% a few years ago, from 50 to 200.

Young apprentices are high school/university graduates from Germany looking to become mechatronics engineers, industrial mechanics, machining mechanics, industrial clerks, or qualified mechanical engineers with the filling and packaging equipment manufacturer.

Head of Knowledge Management, Dr Sabine Kiunke, states: “KHS has been playing a pioneering role by consistently providing the opportunity to combine training and studies as part of a dual work-study program since 1995. The number of participating dual work-study students has increased drastically since 2010.  At that time we employed 19 dual work-study students in the company and now have more than 70.”

At the moment, apprentices can participate in KHS’ dual work-study programme in machine engineering, mechatronics, electrical engineering, industrial service management, industrial engineering, and business administration. 

Ralph Remy, head of Human Resources Management at KHS in Hamburg: "I think the particular advantage of the dual work-study program for students is that they no longer have to choose between vocational training and studies and can decide to opt for both options simultaneously. Theory and practice go hand in hand during training. This is experienced by the participants as extremely pleasant."

Dr Kiunke adds, "An important factor for KHS in turn is that even the best and most qualified of school graduates gain considerable interest in KHS because of the wide range of dual work-study courses."

According to them, individuals who undergo this programme show more loyalty to the company.