The Liebherr Academy, a social responsibility initiative of Liebherr-Africa, has invested R25-million in a seven year training programme, which is due to be completed by the end of the year.
The training was conducted on behalf of Liebherr by black empowered training institute, the Artisan Training Institute (ATI).
Sean Jones, a director of ATI, says: “If you take the financial contribution per artisan trained totalling 560 – over the period of their careers – then a total of R2,25-billion is effectively ploughed back into the fiscus.’’
ATI trained over 500 apprentices for Liebherr over the past seven years. In addition to this, ATI placed in excess of 80% of these learners in gainful employment, via apprenticeships – which is part of its mandate when conducting training on behalf of clients.
“We have built up a good track record for placing learners and we are very pleased we attained the placement figures for Liebherr. This is in spite of the poor business trading conditions.
“Liebherr has been one of ATI’s longest standing clients, with their commitment to training over the years having been quite remarkable,” Jones says.
Jones says it is pleasing to see companies like Liebherr “enthusiastically investing” in quality engineering training, adding that the country is unfortunately affected by a practise where some institutions are chasing numbers. This practice has short-changed many young people attempting to enter the trades.”