VW Group rewards top apprentices

The Volkswagen Group has presented its Best Apprentice Awards 2016 to its best apprentices from all over the world, honouring their ‘outstanding performance and professional competence’.

The prizes for the 45 young talents within 16 vocations were presented by the chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Matthias Müller; the member of the board of management responsible for human resources, organisation and IT, Dr Karlheinz Blessing; and the president of the global group works council, Bernd Osterloh.

The nine young women and 36 young men were honoured at a ceremony held at the Congress Park in Wolfsburg following a joint meeting of the Group Board of Management and the Global Group Works Council.

‘The automotive industry is more exciting for young people than ever before,’ said Matthias Müller. ‘Like the entire industry, our company faces major changes: autonomous driving, e-mobility, innovative mobility concepts, digitalisation and connectivity will mean that we will need to update our knowledge and skills at an increasingly rapid pace.’

One presenting the apprentices with their awards, Müller said, ‘I am proud of you. Please remain inquisitive and open to new developments and discover your opportunities in the changes that will take place.’

Twenty of the award winners had already been honoured in their home countries for their commitment to their companies and for their knowledge and skills in their training vocations. Almost half of the Best Apprentice Award winners will be starting a degree course to develop their knowledge and skills in greater depth. A further seven young people will be receiving two years of individual support in their professional family within the ‘talent group for young specialists’. Five young people will be taking part in the ‘Wanderjahre’ (years abroad) programme. They will be working for a year at a Group location in another country.

This year’s Best Apprentice Award was the 16th of its kind presented by the Volkswagen Group and a total of 431 apprentices have been honored since 2001. The group is currently training about 19,500 young women and men in about 60 vocations and 50 dual courses of study.