Federal Minister of Labor Olaf Scholz visits SCHOTT

Germany’s Federal Minister for Labor and Social Affairs Olaf Scholz paid a visit to SCHOTT today. He was interested to learn more about the training measures the company, based in Mainz, Germany, is now offering. As Minister Scholz put it, "Further training of skilled workers is of immense importance, particularly during difficult economic times. By promoting the development of additional skills while employees are working reduced hours, Germany’s Federal Labor Ministry has come up with a future-oriented arrangement that more and more companies are adopting."

Professor Udo Ungeheuer, Chairman of the Board of Management of SCHOTT, confirmed this: "As a company that is strongly dependent on exports, being able to rely on training and additional skills while facing growing international competition is particularly important for the SCHOTT technology group. This enables us to maintain the competitive advantage we have when it comes to know-how."

In order to be able to meet the demand for qualified employees, training and integrating young people into the working environment is not the only measure that is of importance to SCHOTT. During the current period of reduced working hours, the company is also relying on advanced training for its employees and thus making use of the offer from Germany’s Federal Government’s and employment agencies to provide financial support for certified training measures.

"We will continue to improve the skills of our employees during this period of reduced working hours in order to prepare ourselves for the changing demands of our markets, as well as for future developments," Professor Ungeheuer said and added: "By acting in a proactive manner, we are looking to be one of those companies that succeed in coping with this crisis relatively well."

As a supplier to the automotive and semiconductor industry, as well as consumer electronics in various areas, SCHOTT is also affected by the decline in sales. The group is currently making use of the instrument of reduced working hours in order to align its manufacturing to match the order situation and, thus, avoid redundancies. Approximately 1,800 of the 6,700 employees in Germany are currently working 20% fewer hours. This means personnel capacity has been lowered by around 7%.