4 minute read
SPECIALIZED TRAINING
Shortage of Skilled Personnel: The Training Needs of Companies
Gabriele Lazzari ipcm®
Our editorial team asked a few questions to company owners and coating managers in order to better understand the needs of the labour market and how the ipcm® Academy training course can match supply with demand.
The labour market is constantly changing. Moreover, it often seems that schools and universities are excessively focused on theoretical knowledge and unable to prepare future professionals to the possible challenges they will face. We are now witnessing a growing demand for soft skills to fill these gaps in practical activities1 . However, on the other hand, the surface treatment industry is
1 https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/qualities-employers-want
experiencing the opposite problem: the lack of training courses enabling people to learn technical knowledge related to the activities performed in the coating and surface treatment world. This is why the ipcm® Academy courses, aimed at paint operators, paintshop managers, paint manufacturers’ sales engineers, and quality control managers, give access to a training programme based on the current demands and needs of the labour market, through classroom lessons with highly qualified teachers boasting many years of experience in the field of surface treatments, including both a theoretical and a practical part.
© Adobe Stock Lack of training courses especially for young people
Countless companies report having difficulties in finding adequately trained staff. Therefore, our editorial team decided to ask specifically about recent experiences in recruiting new professionals and about the knowledge and characteristics that these professionals should have. “In my experience,” says Massimo Arcuri, the industrialisation and coating technology manager of IMR Industries (Carate Brianza, Monza e Brianza, Italy), “I have noticed that there is a preference for seeking out and hiring resources with a technical background but willing to be professionally trained by the company itself. The lack of specific schooling and academics makes it difficult to find people who are already professionals, especially among young people. In addition, the continuous evolution of our sector requires continuous training. “That is why I attended the ipcm® Academy course as well, although I already had some knowledge of the topics covered – and I regret not having attended it earlier, maybe even at the beginning of my career, because it would have given me a better understanding of many aspects of the coating process. Therefore, I would also recommend it to young people who have just entered the world of work and started out in this sector, so that they can better understand the various processes and obtain training that is perhaps ancillary to their specific tasks, but still necessary for their professional development. The world of work certainly needs more training, and a course of this kind can enable these professionals to mature quickly. In fact, the company I work for is also looking for a similar course that focuses on plastics.”
Comprehensive experience in paintshops and equipment
This is also exemplified by the testimony of Michael Massa, the general manager of SIVE SpA, a company based in Cirié (Turin, Italy) specialising in plastic and metal surface treatments, which has recently carried out an extensive search for a resource capable of managing its entire painting department. “The biggest challenge was to find people with experience in the whole coating process and in the management of all systems, from pre-treatment to manual and automatic application of various types of paint, through to polymerisation. Ideally, we were looking for an engineer or a technical graduate, with about two years’ experience in various coatingrelated activities. Alternatively, we were willing to also consider technical graduates with production experience. We were not looking for an expert, but for a resource to keep training and making grow professionally in our company. Unfortunately, there are very few candidates with experience in the various processes involved in painting. We have had feedback from some coaters, albeit with difficulty, or from people who in the past also supervised coaters as part of their duties, but nobody experienced in running a whole painting department. Therefore, we also considered a person who had managed other types of processes and was willing to be trained in-house.” Massa only found out about the ipcm® Academy courses after this lengthy research, but he says they would have been a useful reference to turn to for immediate feedback during the research phase. “As mentioned, our difficulties were due to a lack of knowledge tout court. Therefore, courses such as those run by ipcm® Academy would certainly have helped in finding staff with the characteristics we were looking for. Moreover, for example, the possibility of participating in individual modules could enable coaters to acquire technical expertise on further aspects of the surface treatment field and expand their knowledge. The industry suffers from a lack of training paths of this kind.”
