The training company Angermünder Bildungswerk GmbH (ABW) provides initial training and collaborative training, e.g. for metal dressers and metalworkers, as well as further education and retraining in metal-related professions.

The non-profit educational institution bbw Bildungswerk der Wirtschaft in Berlin und Brandenburg has more than 25 branches – upon request it even visits businesses – and it trains skilled employees and executives for the industry of the region. It also mediates and offers up-to-date knowledge and practice-oriented training for the development of professional and personal competences that today’s and tomorrow’s industry expects skilled employees to have. The group bbw offers comprehensive support for professional education and the labour market; ranging from the choosing of a profession, the job application to vocational training and retraining, as well as from extra-occupational further education to studies at a higher education institution.

The many years of high-quality work by the employees of the vocational training company BBZ Berufsbildungszentrum Prignitz GmbH have turned it into a highly-regarded organisation. The business activity of the company BBZ Prignitz GmbH currently offers: preparing persons for a profession, training disadvantaged persons and persons undergoing rehabilitation, joint training of apprentices, management expert training at the business academy of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Potsdam, the Technical College for Economy and Technology, general further education in the framework of basic social services, (socio-pedagogical) labour market services, further education according to the German Regulations on the Recognition and Admission to Further Education (Code of Social Law II and III), company training as well as individual projects.

As a distinguished non-profit educational institution, the association Berufsbildungsverein Prenzlau e.V. (BBVP) has been offering services for school leavers and citizens since 1991. By statute the measures include professional training, preparing persons for a profession, professional further education and professional retraining. The highly-motivated employees use training workshops, laboratories, seminar rooms and outdoor facilities that are outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment. Additionally, the BBVP operates a training centre that is approved by the German Welding Society.

The Bildungsgesellschaft Pritzwalk as a recognised educational company has been providing services for young people and adults both inside and outside of businesses for more than 20 years. It puts the focus on technical/commercial and trade-related professions in the industrial sector, in the trade sector, in craft trades, and in gastronomy as well as on the regions Prignitz, Ostprignitz-Ruppin and Havelland. Innovative products and services include, for example, the programme “Talents Education Metal/Electrical”, dual study programmes in cooperation with the Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau or individual education programmes in the Private Vocational School for the Fields of Economy and Technology (“Private Berufsschule für Wirtschaft und Technik Prignitz”) as well as modular collaborative training.

Brandenburg Invest | Labour offers services and products in Potsdam, Cottbus, Eberswalde, Frankfurt/Oder and Neuruppin with regard to: strategic personnel development, recruitment and development of needed skilled employees, information on funds or needs-based further education opportunities, the planning and organisation of family-friendly concepts and alternative ways for seizing the yet untapped labour force potential.

The Crafts Academy of the Chamber of Craft Trades Cottbus with its high-performance education centres acts as a partner in the field of professional qualification. It has a broad network of skilled employees and specialists at its disposal and cooperates with the trade guilds, district associations of craftsmen, professional associations as well as numerous institutions inside and outside the country, technical colleges and universities. Relevant to the metal sector is the vocational training and technology and educational centre of the German Welding Society in Gallinchen.

The German employees’ academy DAA is a provider of professional further education in Germany and has six branches in the state of Brandenburg that offer, among other things, metal-relevant qualifications for various target groups within the labour market.

The educational centre of the German Welding Society of the District Association of Craftspeople Oderland (Kreishandwerkerschaft Oderland) offers modular welding training as well as the obligatory re-examinations for welders.

The Education Centre of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry East Brandenburg has created the brand “Chamber of Commerce and Industry.The Further Education” (“IHK.Die Weiterbildung”), by which it defines the quality standards of practice-oriented educational programmes. All programmes have been approved and certified by the federal system “Advancement through Further Training” (“Aufstiegsfortbildung”) of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Graduates of these programmes are of key importance mainly to the German Mittelstand as they often hold positions with a high level of responsibility.

The Education Centre of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Cottbus has established itself as a partner of companies, unions and institutions and as a successful education institution in the region. Its main activities focus on the further education of small and medium-sized enterprises of the region, on young professionals and persons returning to their profession as well as on all other parties interested in further education. In doing so, it picks up on new developments in the fields of economy, science and technology that seem to be turning into new cross-sector trends and occupational profiles.

The training association Ausbildungsverbund Teltow acts as an education centre of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Potsdam and offers needs-based and market-oriented initial training and further education. It always picks up on the most recent findings and developments in society and uses state-of-the-art teaching materials.

The Education Centre of the Chamber of Craft Trades Frankfurt/Oder at its locations in Frankfurt/Oder and Hennickendorf (near Strausberg) encompasses approximately 30 practical workshops, 3 IT offices and 10 theory rooms and thereby qualification opportunities that are relevant to the metal sector.

Training and further education, which is relevant also to metal companies, is being offered by the Chamber of Craft Trades Potsdam at its institutions: Educational Institution for Welding Technologies (Schweißtechnische Lehranstalt Potsdam), Centre for the Promotion of Trade (Zentrum für Gewerbeförderung), Competence Centre for the Rational Use of Energy (Kompetenzzentrum Rationelle Energieanwendung) and the Training Centre for Plastics Processing (Alternative Solutions) [Kursstätte für Kunststoffverarbeitung (Alternativlösungen)].

The education foundation EKO Stiftung Bildung Ostbrandenburg, in cooperation with educational institutions, promotes professional guidance as well as professional training and further education with a focus on natural sciences and technology.

The project development company Entwicklungsgesellschaft Energiepark Lausitz GmbH focuses mainly on the metal and electrical industry in the south of Brandenburg and supports clients in growing and improving their business processes as well as in their personnel management. Through its comprehensive functional knowledge and the ability to speed up changes it develops projects jointly with its clients and helps them with their efficient implementation. The EEPL is a competent partner and service provider for businesses, institutions, communities, unions, associations and citizens with regard to the areas of economy, labour and social affairs as well as education and environmental issues.

The company FAW gGmbH and its welding technology centre “Schweißtechnischen Kursstätte Fürstenwalde” provide high-quality education opportunities in the field of welding and specialised welding technologies as well as internationally recognised training.

The Information Portal for Professional Further Education by Brandenburg Invest describes the varied training, further education and study opportunities within the Cluster Metal. Interested parties will also find information on the labour market, funding opportunities and events. The independent and gratuitous consulting services provided by Brandenburg Invest aim at resolving issues and answering questions in a straightforward way. Additionally, the further education database offers an overview of 40,000 courses in Berlin and Brandenburg in all of the sectors. This provides interested parties with new ideas for their personal professional further education plans or the personnel development in businesses.

The company QCW GmbH was founded in 1990 and has since established itself in and around Eisenhüttenstadt as an innovative education institution. Along practice-oriented job searches and training (all the way to the level “Master”) it also, jointly with its network partners, carries out innovative projects. Since 1991 the QCW has offered training to become a welder in accordance with the guidelines of the German Welding Society; this training is being offered at the welding training centre “Schweißtechnische Kursstätte”, which is a branch of the research institute for welding “Schweißtechnischen Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt” in Berlin. 

The foundation SINUS-Stiftung was established in 2008 and has since supported the creation of links between pupils and businesses in the south of Brandenburg with the goal of recruiting young skilled employees for the metal and electrical industry.

The Skilled Employees Information System Brandenburg contains structural data of the state of Brandenburg from the fields of demography, employment and unemployment, which are relevant to the labour market. The different kinds of data can be accessed in the form of readily available standard evaluations (the status quo with regard to skilled employees in sought-after professions or overviews of the status quo with regard to skilled employees in the state of Brandenburg, in autonomous cities and counties or in Regional Growth Areas) or also in the form of individual searches that can be stored digitally.

On the website of the Skilled Employees Portal Brandenburg, businesses can post job advertisements, and in doing so look for skilled employees in a targeted manner. The Portal, in addition, provides a comprehensive overview of how living and careers in Brandenburg are like. The Welcome Center targets mainly foreign skilled employees and migrant workers; it provides information in six languages on the topic of “working and living in Brandenburg”.

As an independent professional training institution, the company Technologie- und Berufsbildungszentrum Königs Wusterhausen gGmbH (tbz) offers training and further education, among other things, in the professional fields of metal technology, electrical technology and welding technology.

The company WEQUA GmbH is a qualified partner of the Federal Employment Agency, the “Jobcenter”, MASF Brandenburg, LASA GmbH Brandenburg, the chambers as well as the administrations of the counties OSL and EE and the cities, departments and municipalities of these counties; its competence profile includes the execution of needs-based workplace-related qualification and training modules and of extra-occupational initial training.

As an institution offering mainly business-oriented training courses, the ZAL provides training for adults and young people at various locations in the state of Brandenburg. The company’s qualification offers are mostly organised in modules and its 28 subject areas also include qualifications that are relevant to the metal sector, e.g. cutting machine operating, CNC technology, welding and automation.