Europe’s much-discussed demographic shift is creating talent shortages in different sectors.
More young people are working in the service industry;
The craft industry, however, is the real gold mine.
In Langer’s home state of Saxony, this tradition is a must.
Craftsmanship is useful on the watchmaker’s table and elsewhere;
Training director Katja Konig with trainees Tanja Ziesche, Christopher Schillem and Jakob Kupke(from right to left).
As early as 1997, Langer had opened his own watchmaker training school.
Since then, the school has trained more than 100 watchmakers, who now work in a variety of positions at Lange Production Line.
Apart from this training centre within the company, Langer is also actively reaching out to young people through the Internet and multimedia.
Christopher Schillem uses infinite patience to stitch together different pieces of cloth with a needle and thread.
When he was almost done, he filled the bag with small particles through small holes.
After two or three fine movements, a shuttlecock is finished.
For Christopher Schillem, 21, a runner-up of a shuttlecock tournament, the fashionable sport has a lot in common with watchmaking.
“A friend of mine saw me sewing these little bags and suggested I join the watchmaking industry,” he recalls.
These small cloth balls, which are made of a dozen pieces of cloth, are controlled by hands and feet and cannot be thrown to the ground.
So when it comes to making them, a steady hand and a lot of patience are necessary.
With all these qualities, this young man is in his second year of training at the Runge Watchmaking School.
a Feine has also always liked to work with her hands.
At school, she won second place in the soap box race with her handmade metal soap box car.
So she’s also enthusiastic about a craft that doesn’t involve sitting at a desk all day.
Linda, 20, said: “My father is a real tech fan and he took me to the training fair because he really wanted to see Runge’s information booth.”
Linda was so fascinated that she immediately submitted her application to the traditional company.
Using her own experience as a guide, she advises her sister, who aspires to be a doctor, to learn about her dream job in advance: “People often have little idea what their job is really about.
Tanja Ziesche, Jakob Kupke and Linda Feine(left to right) use eyepieces for precision work.
Tanja Ziesche describes her career as a watchmaker as “a dream come true”.
At the age of 21, she has gathered a lot of timely information about her ideal career.
She is in her third year of training and has just passed her final exams.
She said: “The training in Runge has totally exceeded my expectations.”
“These special and delicate materials are an exciting challenge.
I really like that the school promotes each of our students on their own merits.”
Her original ambition after graduation was to study art, but “it wasn’t down-to-earth for me.”
“She recalled.
She learned about watchmaking from a chamber of Commerce flyer and submitted an application to Mr. Langer.
A reminder from his math teacher that Jakob Kupke is a dab hand at the watchmaker’s desk or at leisure.
Jakob Kupke, 18, jumped at the chance to learn more about the watch industry by giving students work experience during school holidays.
It was his math teacher who alerted him. “The teacher was a Glashuti,” says Jakob, who was keen on crafts as a child.
He applied for both work experience and training, and received an invitation to take an aptitude test.
Soon, he was judged to be very suitable for the watch industry, so two months later he was able to sign the internship agreement.
“We use regional fairs to help young people learn more about watchmaking.”
Katja Konig, head of training, explains.
Since 1997, Langer has trained watchmakers at his family’s vocational training school.
But fairs and advertising no longer fully reach the right applicants.
“A lot of young people are getting information about training opportunities online,” says Katja Konig.
In June 2012, she invited the founder of the azubot Web portal to the school to shoot a short film.
The video will be available at www.azubot.de starting in August 2012. Keyword: “watchmaker.”
Tobias Wunsche, who studied tool making at Langer the following year;
Pictured on the right, his training director Henry Stephan.
In addition to the watchmaking training, since 2003 Langer has also offered a three-and-a-half-year toolmaking training, which five young people have successfully completed, learning to make watchmaking tools and equipment in a variety of metals.
More than 100 of Katja Konig’s proteges now work in Runge’s various production departments.
Jakob Kupke, Chistopher Schillem, and Tobias Wunsche all had the same goal: to sign an employment contract with Lange;
Like Linda Feine and Tanja Ziesche, she started her official job in Runge on July 24, 2012.
