The Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry welcomed 117 new trainees for the Ausbildung program this year with participating German automotive companies, BMW Group Korea, Daimler Trucks Korea, MAN Truck & Bus Korea and Mercedes-Benz Korea.

Ausbildung is a German dual vocational training program comprising 70 percent of job training in the actual field and 30 percent of corresponding theoretical instruction provided by a university.

The program was introduced in Korea in September 2017 with around 90 trainees.

This year, the second generation of Ausbildung trainees will start their three years of training to become auto-mechatronics at authorized dealerships of participating German automotive companies from September.

The program had previously focused on passenger car brands only, but has been expanded to commercial vehicle brands with the participation of Daimler Trucks Korea and MAN Trucks & Bus Korea.

“We will continue to provide our cooperation and support for nurturing future young talent in the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ era, to make Ausbildung which is in its second year, a new standard for progressive vocational training programs in Korea,” said Sang-Kuk Lee, Mercedes-Benz Korea vice president of network development & training

Susanne Wohrle, project manager of Ausbildung at KGCCI, said, “Ausbildung is like an expedition to the Mount Everest. It is a long way but if you reach the peak you are on top of everything, so it is worth every effort to aim for the peak.”

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)