It can be clearly stated that, with regard to mechanical engineering professions, there is a labor shortage and/or the knowledge, experience, and practical skills of professionals are inadequate. The overarching goal of our vocational training project is to implement and operate a viable program for the development of secondary and higher vocational education that will help ensure that training in mechanical engineering trades and domestic engineering education are tailored to the actual needs of businesses, and to ensure that more highly trained and better-suited mechanical engineering professionals are available to businesses.
Our goal:
- to increase the appeal of mechanical engineering trades and career paths, and to develop an interest in technical subjects and the underlying science competencies among young people facing career choices;
- to prioritize realism and up-to-date content in mechanical engineering training, as well as knowledge acquisition based on real-world needs;
- increasing the proportion of entry-level professionals capable of creating value by deepening the content of vocational internships and extending their duration, thereby significantly reducing the time required for new hires to integrate into their future workplaces and significantly increasing their productivity.
A key document for our project is the DDGK Training Development Strategy, as extended to higher vocational education. In line with its various objectives, the project consists of several subprojects, each comprising numerous activities, which are implemented through extensive collaboration among cluster companies, while also building significantly on cooperation with partner organizations—including general and vocational schools, higher education institutions, and the chamber of commerce. Through this multifaceted collaboration, the cluster management primarily handles coordination tasks, while the burden of specific tasks and individual actions is shared among the member organizations and collaborating partners involved in implementing the project components.