News

Metal companies benefit from training through OOM training pools

24 August 2017

80% of the students who are trained via the training pools of OOM, the training fund for the metal sector, obtain their diploma within the nominal training period of two years. As a result, the practical students from the training pools can quickly find work as professionals at their training company, where they receive ‘tailor-made’ training. This is good news for metal companies since they currently have great difficulty in finding suitable personnel.

Every year, between 2,000 and 2,500 new apprentices start work in the metalworking industry who combine an intermediate vocational education (mbo) course with work, known as the vocational guided learning (BBL) course. Of this group of apprentices, 20% will be trained in OOM’s training pools. The pools are collaborations of employers in the metalworking industry who jointly take on the training of BBL students from the region. OOM started with ten training pools in 2007. Ten years later, 1,100 companies throughout the Netherlands are connected through 27 pools. Despite the economic crisis, the number of apprentices in the metalworking industry continued to rise, as the only sector in engineering.

High success rate
Of the BBL students who are trained on-the-job via the regular route, slightly more than 50% obtain the diploma within the nominal training period of two years. After three years, this figure has risen to almost 80%. In the OOM training pools this training return rate is already around 80% after two years and over 90% after three years. Moreover, the learning path in the training pool (from start to diploma) is on average 7% shorter than for regular BBL students. And after obtaining the diploma, the trainee is guaranteed a job.

Workplace is a powerful learning environment
All active learning companies in the metal sector receive money from OOM. But SME companies that train an apprentice through a training pool receive a considerably higher contribution. Erik Yperlaan, director of OOM, explains: “Training according to the training pool formula is certainly not easy. Compared to the regular BBL route, students in the training pools have not one but two days of training per week. In addition, they receive very intensive supervision within a learning program that is tailor-made for and by companies in the region. This makes the workplace a powerful learning environment. The students obtain a diploma in an average shorter apprenticeship. It may cost the metalworking companies more time, but they benefit greatly from the pools.”

Training pools grow against contraction
The economy is continuing to pick up and the aging population is leading to the departure of skilled personnel. “From various disciplines in the metal industry there is a signal that people are concerned about the availability of suitable personnel,” says Yperlaan. “The influx from the education sector is insufficient to meet this replacement demand. The number of intermediate vocational students who choose to obtain their diploma by working continues to fall.”

Training pools are an exception to this. This form of training has a lot in common with the classic training model that is characterized by small scale and craftsmanship. In addition to the usual theory day at the ROC, at least one day of professional practice is provided at the regional practice center of the training pool. A lot of attention is also paid there to the development of so-called soft skills such as communication, cooperation, customer orientation and problem-solving abilities.

Composition of training pools
There are currently 420 training pool apprentices. They are employed by various metalworking companies, from yacht builders and high-tech machining companies to steel fabricators. There they work three days a week under the supervision of a practical trainer. The majority of the apprentices from the training pools follow a level 2 MBO training. The most popular job directions are construction worker, machinist and mechanic mechatronics (building equipment in the machine industry). Since the start of the OOM initiative, 3,000 apprentices have been trained in training pools.

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