Metsec continues investment in apprenticeship scheme

voestalpine Metsec has continued its investment in the future of the manufacturing industry with the appointment of four new staff members through its award-winning apprenticeship scheme.

The appointments take Metsec a step closer to achieving its goal of a 20% home grown workforce by the year 2020. 

The new apprentices – all aged between 16 and 19 years of age – were appointed after undergoing a rigorous interview process consisting of problem solving workshops, interviews and teamwork exercises.

They will be based at the company’s Oldbury site, where they will spend the first year of employment working from Metsec’s onsite training centre developing their knowledge of the industry and undertaking a series of workshops to improve their practical metal work skills.

The programme has been developed to run for up to four years, slowly introducing recruits to the business with greater integration and visibility as training progresses.

Metsec apprenticeship scheme 

The four new recruits are the latest to enter the organisation’s award-winning apprenticeship scheme, which has produced 43 members of the current Metsec workforce.

All areas of the training provided as part of the programme are carried out in-house. The selection process that leads to appointments is based on the applicant’s attitude, and the company is able to provide Maths, English and ICT qualifications in addition to relevant technical certificates on-site.

Now in its 20th year, the scheme demonstrates Metsec’s commitment to developing its talent from the ground upwards, which has led to the company being named the Express & Star’s Apprentice Employer of the Year 2014 and the Business of the Year at the Business is Good for the Black Country Awards 2014.

Steve Giles, Environmental Safety and Training Manager at Metsec, commented: “Here at Metsec, we’re committed to developing our talent within the company, and allowing our apprentices to truly develop the skills from an early stage that will see them becoming industry leaders. 

We think that it’s vital the programme educates each recruit on site, as it allows the apprentices to feel a part of our team from day one. We have an extremely rigorous interview process, as it’s very important that the candidates we select have the correct attitude. We’re well on the way to achieving a 20% home grown workforce by 2020, which is great for Metsec.”