There was excitement in the air on the morning of September 1, when nine young men between the ages of 16 and 19 showed up for their first day at Aebi Schmidt's plant in St. Blasien. Over the next three years, they'll train as industrial mechanics, engineers, and mechatronics technicians, with several also enrolled in dual study programs, such as in electrical engineering.
Plant manager Thomas Berger welcomed the new apprentices: "Our young people are our future." Starting an apprenticeship, he said, marks a whole new chapter in life with new colleagues, new tasks, new subjects to master. He knows firsthand that the beginning can be tough and there's a lot to take in, having started his own career as an apprentice at Aebi Schmidt. "It gets easier with time, and above all, the apprenticeship should be fun," Berger said, adding with a smile: "Ideally, we'll be there for you from day one all the way to retirement."
The newcomers settled in quickly, thanks in part to the "old hands": second-year apprentices who organized a scavenger hunt across the entire plant grounds. It was a fun, hands-on way for the new apprentices to get to know not just the facility, but also the key people they'd be working with.
Rising Talent in Switzerland and Norway
A few weeks earlier, three new apprentices began their training as a logistics specialist, a commercial employee, and an automation technician at Aebi Schmidt's Swiss site in Burgdorf. They're being mentored by former apprentices who are now full-time employees passing their knowledge on to the next generation. This is a cycle with deep roots at Aebi Schmidt, where many of today's leaders and department heads got their start as apprentices themselves.
Norway is now following that same successful model: Hans Emil is the first-ever apprentice there, training to become a service technician. Getting to this point required official certification as a training company – an effort well worth it. As it becomes harder across the industry to recruit skilled talent, Aebi Schmidt Norway is looking ahead by training its own technicians in-house.
An Investment in the Future
Whether in Germany, Switzerland, or Norway, apprenticeships are core to Aebi Schmidt. Training young talent matters deeply to the company. As an international employer with 11 brands, Aebi Schmidt gives young people meaningful, hands-on work, and responsibility from day one, all within a growing, forward-looking organization.
That investment pays off many times over: apprentices bring fresh energy and new perspectives to everyday operations while growing into exactly the kind of skilled professionals Aebi Schmidt will need in the years ahead.
A look at today's workforce tells the story: many current employees started out as apprentices at Aebi Schmidt and have stayed loyal to the company ever since.