The crafts may well be regarded as one of the most important stakeholders for the successful transformation of the energy supply system: Residential and industrial buildings are being equipped with renewable energy technologies, intelligent electricity meters are being installed and the grid infrastructure is made fit for the future.
If the handicrafts businesses are to successfully fulfil their role as agents of the energy supply transformation process, they will have to dispense with pure specialisation and domain thinking in the individual crafts. The labour market of the future calls for action that is guided by performance, characterised by generalist thinking and is interdisciplinary across the boundaries between the various trades. This is the conclusion drawn by an empiric study compiled by the Subject Group Occupational and Economic Educational Sciences at the University of Oldenburg.
The scientists around Prof. Dr Karin Rebmann have conducted a comprehensive study of the fields of occupation and competency requirements in handicrafts businesses against the background of the energy transition.
Their study results from a joint project involving the university and the Federal Technology Center for Electrical Engineering and Information Technology e.V. (BFE, registered association), that is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and is dedicated to vocational education and training for a sustainable energy industry.
The successive pullout from nuclear power generation, the development of regenerative energy contributions to the overall German Federal Republic's energy consumption, the comprehensive energy efficiency programmes, such as, for example, the thermal insulation of buildings and the scheduled extension of the power grid, involve also the crafts.
"In future, energy supply and utilisation are no longer the sole field of occupation for energy suppliers and large corporate groups. The transformation of the energy industry promises new, profitable fields of business also for the crafts and provides its employees with excellent professional development opportunities", Rebmann explains.
The labour systems within handicrafts businesses need to change
For the purpose of the empiric study, the scientists polled more than 450 businesses and 22 experts from all over Germany. The questions pertained to, amongst other issues, the shift as regards occupational fields of activity due to the energy transition, the demand for well-qualified skilled labour as regards occupational demands on competencies, expedient educational strategies as well as to learning content and learning goals of relevance to energy.
The scientists were able to show, that, in order to actively shape the energy transfer, the labour systems within handicrafts businesses need to increasingly change and adapt to include a sense of holistic order processing.
"The crafts will have a need for thoroughly trained employees", says Rebmann. These should be able to inform and advise customers, to plan processes and schedule these within projects, to implement and supervise measures. In doing so, they need have the capability to market encompassing energy industry concepts and to develop business fields. These goals are implemented in a practice-oriented manner by the qualification as Business Administrator Energies and Energy Efficiency (HWK - Chamber of Crafts).
One consequence resulting from the study is the extra-occupational qualification programme to become a Business Administrator Energies and Energy Efficiency (HWK - Chamber of Crafts). This continuing education course, unique in Germany, runs over a period of one year and is acknowledged by the Oldenburg Chamber of Crafts.
Craftsmen and -women, who successfully passed the journeyman examination in a recognised occupation requiring formal training and who have had at least two years of professional practice in their occupation, can apply at the Federal Technology Center for Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (BFE) in Oldenburg.