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"We fight for every journeyman": Chamber of Commerce President Delfino Roman warns of emigration

2022-09-16T10:13:19.262Z


"We fight for every journeyman": Chamber of Commerce President Delfino Roman warns of emigration Created: 09/16/2022, 12:05 p.m By: Bernd Schlegel Craft Day is coming up and we speak to Delfino Roman. In an interview, the President of the Hildesheim-South Lower Saxony Chamber of Crafts warns of a lack of young talent. Hildesheim/Göttingen – The craft has golden soil. This old adage still appli


"We fight for every journeyman": Chamber of Commerce President Delfino Roman warns of emigration

Created: 09/16/2022, 12:05 p.m

By: Bernd Schlegel

Craft Day is coming up and we speak to Delfino Roman.

In an interview, the President of the Hildesheim-South Lower Saxony Chamber of Crafts warns of a lack of young talent.

Hildesheim/Göttingen – The craft has golden soil.

This old adage still applies.

But the companies have to try even harder to recruit employees, Delfino Roman, President of the Chamber of Crafts Hildesheim-Südniedersachsen, makes clear in an interview on the Day of Crafts on Saturday (September 17th, 2022).

This is reported by hna.de.

Day of Crafts: Chamber of Crafts President Delfino Roman warns of emigration

Delfino Roman, President of the Hildesheim-South Lower Saxony Chamber of Crafts © private

What is the status of the workforce in the handicraft businesses?

We fight for every journeyman so that they stay in the company and don't migrate towards industry.

We also fight for every new apprentice.

The craft has to expend a lot of strength to do this.

For the last five years we have only addressed young people with the image campaign.

It is of central importance that we convey the image that we are modern as a craft.

For example, many parents, who have a decisive influence on their children's career choices, still have the idea that the bricklayer only puts one brick on top of the other.

It takes a lot of brains these days if you want to use the various materials in the building trade correctly and process them according to standards.

Word hasn't gotten around yet.

How has the world of work in the skilled trades changed?

In the past few years, we have experienced an incredible leap in technology in many professions.

In the meantime, I have a computer-controlled five-axis saw in use in my stonemason's workshop.

I'm having trouble with the new machine.

Our young people understand that. Employees no longer drive to a construction site without a smartphone on which the orders are stored.

How has the economy developed in the skilled trades?

A craft business can have 50 or 100 employees, and these companies often come through a crisis with fewer complaints than an industrial company because they are often much more flexible.

During the Corona crisis, we had more entries than deletions in the trade register.

This even applies to the hairdressing trade.

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More and more young people decide to study because they expect it to give them opportunities for advancement.

What about the chances of advancement in the trades?

They're huge.

If you have a secondary school diploma and have passed a journeyman's examination, you can then start studying at a university of applied sciences or attend a master's school or a technical school.

There is 100 percent upward permeability.

The master's degree now corresponds to a bachelor's degree.

This is simply not known to many.

There are numerous dropouts every year.

What offers does the Chamber of Crafts make to this group?

We once had a great, funded program directly for college dropouts.

Unfortunately that has expired.

The cooperation with the universities did not work out so well either.

Our training advisors are now responsible for this group again.

We are now in frequent talks with the universities.

Affected people come to us for training advice and we address this group at job fairs.

Here's a number: 17 percent of the apprentices in our chamber of crafts now have a high school diploma.

How has apprenticeship training developed overall?

Absolutely positive.

Although many of our 7,800 companies are affected by demographic change, we have consistently had around 3,500 apprentices over the years.

For comparison: in Hamburg there are only 2,200 apprentices in 17,000 companies.

However, this is also due to the fact that we have a high proportion of companies that need a master craftsman.

Women are still underrepresented in many skilled trades.

What is the craft doing about it?

We try to make it clear at the job fairs that many craft trades, for example in the heating, sanitary and air conditioning sectors and in the electrical sector, are not physically demanding - but are mentally demanding.

But there is still role thinking.

We have great examples of women breaking through in former male domains.

But unfortunately there are still too few.

The proportion of women among the apprentices is currently 17 percent.

Incidentally, this coincides with the proportion of female business owners.

It is still difficult to counteract the reservations that parents live by.

Conservative thinking is often still used.

Why is it so difficult for business owners to find a successor for their own company?

We have too few young masters.

On the other hand, there are suddenly too many who want and have to give up their businesses for reasons of age.

In addition, the attitude of many young people has changed: some of them no longer want to have so much responsibility.

In this case, a model with two successors who share the tasks can help.

Many don't want to deal with the crazy bureaucracy of our time anymore.

In addition, the financial risk of a takeover by a bank is not covered.

How does the trade support the start into self-employment?

Unfortunately, this is not financially possible.

We now have the championship bonus of 4,000 euros, which we fought for.

There is also a master start-up bonus.

However, if someone takes over a business, then this money does not flow.

Incidentally, the tools for managing the business are part of the master classes.

Some still saddle the business economist of the craft on top.

What about the advice?

We offer free intensive advice from our specialists at the Chamber of Crafts.

They support both sides, the craftsman who wants to give up his business and the future business owner.

They accompany and moderate the transition.

Of course, there is also advice on setting up a new company.

In both cases we are not tied to financial service providers.

That's why we offer absolutely neutral advice.

What would you wish for?

The trade would be helped a lot if the state launched a project for guarantees with the KfW bank.

For example, a company takeover could be financially secured with 50,000 euros per job.

No young craftsman can raise enough collateral to get the necessary money from the bank.

We need more support in this direction.

What are the consequences for the population if no more young people decide to do a trade?

Services of general interest will become more and more critical.

You will have to wait longer and longer for craftsmen - also for repairs, for example when the faucet is dripping or the heating is defective.

Do you have any other concrete examples?

The energy transition can be implemented more and more slowly.

Who else should put the solar system on the roof, install the new heating system or connect the heat pump?

At some point it will no longer just fail because of the material that we currently have a bottleneck with.

At some point we simply no longer have enough journeymen who can carry out work quickly.

Bottlenecks also threaten the food trade, i.e. bakers and butchers.

We've got big breaks.

(Bern Schlegel)

To person

Delfino Roman (63) has been President of the Hildesheim-South Lower Saxony Chamber of Crafts since 2013.

He was born in Hildesheim, a self-employed master stonemason, and did an apprenticeship as a sculptor and stonemason after graduating from high school.

Since 1995 he has been managing director of the Hildesheim natural stone company D. & L. Roman GmbH in Hildesheim.

Founded in April 1897, the company is now in its fourth generation.

Roman is married and has two adult daughters.

Hard work at the workbench: A trainee in the automotive trade cuts open an old exhaust pipe with a Flex in a training center.

Whether installing heat pumps, climate-efficient refurbishment of apartments or house construction: craftsmen in this country are usually scarce or not available at all.

This is probably also due to the fact that other careers seem more tempting.

(Iconic image) © Felix Kästle/dpa

A conference in Göttingen dealt with strategies to combat the shortage of skilled workers in services of general interest, and Minister Birgit Honé was also present.

In dual vocational training in Germany, demand and supply have fallen significantly in 2021 and are becoming less and less compatible.

The Chamber of Crafts represents the interests of around 8,000 companies in four districts

The Hildesheim-Südniedersachsen Chamber of Crafts represents the interests of around 8,000 companies with around 44,000 employees in the districts of Göttingen, Hildesheim, Holzminden and Northeim.

The Chamber of Crafts offers advice and information for craft businesses and the public, is an educational partner of companies and vocational schools for vocational training and offers further training for employees in the craft trades.

The Chamber keeps the registers of the crafts and ensures that the crafts code is applied correctly.

The vocational training center is an important factor in the training and further education of the Chamber.

The catchment area of ​​the BBZ for trainees, who deepen and expand their practical knowledge in the inter-company apprenticeship instruction, includes the districts in southern Lower Saxony and beyond.

(bsc)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-09-16

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