The building of the Technical Engineering Competence Centre is now fully operational after the completion of a photovoltaic system on its roof. Minister for Energy Claude Turmes recently inaugurated it.
The large hall, measuring 30 x 30 metres, is home to a number of company employees who receive their training in small groups. All sorts of objects can be found here: solar panels, part of a boiler, and many other devices that may appear mysterious to the uninitiated. The manager of the Technical Engineering Competence Centre, Marc Ant, explains that the Centre offers technical skills for 40 different trades in the craft industry, but also other trades. Besides teaching technological skills, the Centre also offers a number of IT-based training courses as well as management training and soft skills training. The latter includes courses on conflict management and communication.
The Centre is located on a site the size of 3.5 football fields. Training courses are given in one of the two large halls or in one of the six rooms provided for this purpose. This offer already existed before the completion of the building in Bettembourg. Over the past four years, 25,500 employees from various sectors have already received further training at other locations. Ant explains that companies send people because they can receive training for specific company positions at the Centre. There is, for instance, the profession of refrigeration engineer, a new field in the heating and sanitary sector, which involves working with large cooling installations. A company sends its employees to the Centre because they want to receive orders in that field.
There are examples of how vocational training has evolved in many sectors. Michel Reckinger, the president of the Federation of Craftsmen, explains that the energy transition has led to a complete change in building techniques. If a company takes out an oil heater and installs a heat pump, they have to deal with two "very different ways of producing heat". This also applies to the facades. Before there was no insulation, then there was polystyrene insulation and now there is natural insulation, Reckinger states, adding that the industry is constantly "evolving".
For this reason, the continuous training offered to employees is necessary. According to the Minister for Energy Claude Turmes, there is no need to fear going into the craft industry, as it is a "profession with a future". Turmes addressed young people directly, stating that they are "needed Monday to Friday in the craft industry", whether it be to install solar panels, charging stations for electric cars, or insulate facades. Craftsmanship is "a beautiful profession", the Minister declared, adding that if a young person wants to help in the fight against climate change, then they should become an artisan.
So, "Artisans For Future" then? In any case, companies have already recognised the importance of this "green market", as well as the importance of further training. This is also why companies in the technical building sector invest 0.5% of the wage bill in the training centre.
