Volkswagen Group Honors Its Best Apprentices

December 13, 2019 by Volkswagen

• Awards for 49 young talents in 19 vocations from 20 countries

•CEO Herbert Diess: 'That is a great achievement. We at Volkswagen are very proud of '

Wolfsburg, December 13, 2019. The Volkswagen Group today presented its 'Best Apprentice Awards 2019' to its best apprentices from all over the world, honoring their outstanding performance and professional competence. The prizes for the 49 young talents with 19 vocations were presented by the Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Dr. Herbert Diess, the Member of the Board of Management with responsibility for Human Resources, Gunnar Kilian, and the President of the Global Group Works Council, Bernd Osterloh.

Row front, from right to left: Huayun Pu, Karoline Janson, Fabian Schickinger, Kevin Enríquez Reynada, Jennifer Sznober, Markus Braun, Matteo Pancaldi, Herbert Diess, Florian Weinert, Xingyuan Ma, Celina Wilhelm, Sakhile Caroline Mthombeni, Shiyu Yin, Joao Paulo Silva Oliveira, Ronja Schönfisch, Hengzhu Zhang, Shwetankk Bhalaykar Row middle, from right to left: Julen Clavería Olite, Albert Llanguas Montesinos, Jana Rebber, Tobias Bunar, Christian Deister, Simon Zoltán, CEO Audi Bram Schot, Johann Manfred Obermeier, Nella Holland, Zuzana Rábiková, Jesper Adolfsson, Alejandro Oviedo, Jan Holeyko, Hannah Schildbach, Lukas Homner, Dmitrii Pokhodenko, Maria Bayerbach Row back, from right to left: Youssef El Madi, Paweł Malec, Mateusz Nadstazik, Emil Karlsson, Redouane El Kadaoui, Niels Günther, Fabian Philippi, Moritz Jüngst, Lukáš Vaníček, Dariusz Krupiński, Gunnar Kilian, Lukas Saathoff, Bernd Osterloh, Ján Korpala, Lukas Traple, Lewis Clarke, Patrick Schiebinger, Aaron English, Kristina Marquardt.

At the award ceremony, Diess said: 'You are the 49 best apprentices from 20 countries in a Group with more than 19,000 apprentices. That is a great achievement. We are very proud of you. You have completed your apprenticeship at a time when our industry is changing drastically. I would like you to play an active role in shaping this transformation. You need to argue, persuade and overcome resistance. Stand up for your future and the future of Volkswagen.'

Gunnar Kilian said: 'At Volkswagen, we place considerable value on excellent training for young specialists. We want young people to firmly grasp opportunities. We support them in their efforts and offer training in about 60 vocations, with 50 dual courses of study throughout the world. In an era of rapid technological change, a solid training is more important than ever before. It is the firm foundation which you can build on to repeatedly develop new knowledge and expertise in a sustainable way.'

The 12 young women and 37 young men were honored at a ceremony held in the hall at Hafen1 at the Volkswagen facilities in Wolfsburg.

Osterloh said: 'The Works Council congratulates the Volkswagen Group's best apprentices. With their strong performance, they have taken the lead worldwide – just as our Group is doing.

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Nowadays, in an era of upheavals, we need motivated employees like you more than ever before. The presentation of awards to our best apprentices throughout the world is also a success for our strong vocational training and the training system of the Volkswagen Group. Vocational training develops and shapes tomorrow's specialists. Every euro that we invest in training brings tenfold returns in other fields.'

49 award-winners had already been honored in their home countries for their commitment to their companies and for their knowledge and skills in their training vocations. 21 of the Best Apprentice Award winners will be starting a degree course to develop their knowledge and skills in greater depth. In addition, two young specialists will receive study grants. Three of the award-winners from Germany will be receiving two years of individual support in their professional family within the 'talent group for young specialists'.