Partnership with local schools creates opportunities for companies and graduates
Di Federico Piazza
In Conegliano, the local scientific high school, IS Galileo Galilei has intensified its ongoing collaboration for on-the-job, technical and professional training with MGG, one of the world’s leading companies in the automated paintbrush and roller manufacturing industry.
On March 23rd, the company welcomed about fifty students from the high school, together with five teachers, who had the opportunity to visit several of the production departments (machine tool machining, assembly, start-up, and testing) where both machinery and complete, integrated systems designed for brush factories all over the world are created. For several years MGG has been hosting students from both technical and vocational courses at the city’s high school for internships and work experience.
“For the business system, this type of school-to-work program is a real medium-to-long-term investment” says Beatrice Marcon, head of human resources at MGG. “However, the advantages on a strategic level are also relevant in the short term, since the school-to-work program makes it possible to reduce the gap between the skills students have when they graduate and those required in the working world.”
According to a survey by the Agnelli Foundation, students graduating from Conegliano’s IS Galileo Galilei are the ones who are most likely to find work in the northern Marca Trevigiana area.
“The employment rate is 85%, the highest within a 30-kilometer radius, and consistent with the course of study,” says Professor Paolo Forin, mechanical engineer and professor of technological disciplines at IS Galilei. In fact, even the high number of qualified graduates from the Institute’s technical and professional courses, introduced into the labor market every year, is not able to satisfy the demands of local businesses.
The school and local businesses do collaborate closely. “The school works intensively with local companies to organize internships and company tours” – explains Forin – “since both the Technical and the Professional Institute have developed a strong link with the business world, practically all of the industrial firms in the area work together with us on programs ranging from the curricular internship that serves as a kind of orientation, to a more structured career path involving intense collaboration for students from the Professional Institute.”
MGG is a company that feels a special need to include young professionals, who are able to meet the growing requirement for digital skills and tend to be more flexible and innovative as well as open to training and updating their skill sets.
Beatrice Marcon emphasizes how bringing new recruits onboard not only generates fresh energy but also allows more experienced workers to proudly pass on their knowledge: “This is why MGG intends to establish an internal Academy because, for our niche product, training people is very important; especially given the difficulty of finding new workers who are already properly trained in our industry.”
Professor Forin emphasizes: “Technological innovation is changing what is required from professionals on a daily basis; so, the most important skill is certainly flexibility in applying the methods that the school teaches our students. The students must already have the necessary digital skills, while the ability to apply and develop them is part of what the working world requires.”
