New Profile for The Shipbuilding Sector in Liguria
Pursuant to the agreement signed last year between Fincantieri, the Liguria Region and the trade unions Cgil, Cisl and Uil, aimed at carrying out a series of initiatives to encourage job placement processes, the offer of the courses of the technical institutes of higher education for next autumn is to be extended.
In fact, a new educational pathway meeting the employment needs of the shipbuilding sector will start in Liguria at the Accademia della Marina Mercantile (the Merchant Navy Academy).
The Regional Council, following the proposal of the Councilor Cavo, has approved the scheduling of the post-high school diploma specialization course “Foreman for production and maintenance of ships and/or related infrastructures”, developed thanks to Fincantieri proactive push and coordinated by the Regional training Department.
“The goal of the specialization course is to meet employment demands which the shipbuilding segment is casting, taking into consideration the important existing and future workload, as well as the need to oversee the development of innovative systems for the ship product”, said Giovanni Toti, President of the Liguria Region. “In this way supply and demand intersect effectively, with a view to determine positive impacts on employment for the young people in our area, relying on a recruitment forecast for nearly all the attendees of the course”.
In particular, the professional profile to be trained will be a technician specialized in supervising the construction of onboard systems in compliance with production schedules, safety rules, quality standards and budget estimates. In particular, the profile will oversee the stages of outitting, assembly, and testing of the electrical systems and devices, of the automation systems, air-conditioning systems and others necessary for ship functioning. Such profile will work together with the design and production departments thanks to his in-depth knowledge of the ship’s systems. The request was made by Fincantieri, which has openly underlined the need of introducing courses in order to train people to acquire this specific profile. Other companies of the same segment have raised this requirement underlining its urgent need. The course, indeed, provides for an operational partnership with Fincantieri, San Giorgio al Porto, Amico e Co Srl, T.Mariotti S.p.a. and Tecnomarine, companies which have all expressed an urgent need to find this qualified profile, envisaging a recruitment forecast of at least 70% of the trainees, not ruling out the possibility of building full employment.
“We maintain and continue to pursue the commitment of this Regional Council to train in order to create employment, by strengthening the higher education offer proposed by the Technical Institutes of Higher Education. These are specialization courses for graduated which already have been successfully implemented in our region, so as to being awarded at national level”, commented Ilaria Cavo, Ligurian Regional Councilor for education and training. “After a constructive dialogue with the companies of the segment, we believe that the implementation of this new pathway, added to other 17 courses, represents a strategic opportunity to offer a training system of a stable and quality supply chain, to fulfill the needs of the companies and guarantee employment”. Cavo concluded: “We strongly believe in the courses of the Technical Institutes of Higher Education. It’s now up to the graduates and their families to do the same. We have clear paths, agreements with the companies, as well as high hiring prospects. In July we will start a communication campaign, activated through the European Social Fund, to explain and encourage the choice of these courses. Those who have graduated and want to specialize with a two-year course to find employment cannot avoid to seize this opportunity”.
The course, following some administrative steps, is expected to start in autumn. This training initiative is part of a wider cooperation between the Region and Fincantieri supporting employment in the Ligurian area. In the recent past, three pre-employment training courses have been activated for foreman and production supervisors with three more to be started in the coming months between Riva Trigoso, Genoa and La Spezia. Furthermore, three more projects, developed in partnership with leading companies of the Fincantieri supply chain, aimed at training skilled workers, such as welders, pipers and carpenters, were presented, in order to meet the growing need for specialized workforce of the entire production chain of the shipbuilding sector.
