How do I become a footwear maker and finisher?
Skill and a sense of fashion are the requirements for training as a footwear maker and finisher. There was a time when the job was in crisis—too many companies were going abroad. Today the sector is certainly not big. However, once again, there is a desperate need for footwear makers and finishers.
250 individual parts and 140 work steps—producing a shoe is a complex matter. "Many people have no idea what's involved," said Christa Deingruber from the Federal Association of the German Footwear and Leather Goods Industry.
If you can master each of these individual steps, you can call yourself a footwear maker and finisher. Uwe Hartmann, operations and training manager at the Carl Semler shoe factory in Pirmasens in Rhineland-Palatinate explains that the three year dual education and training chronologically follows the production of a shoe. It starts off with materials science in the leather store. "There they learn what the leather looks like and how it is produced."
The work requires concentration. The footwear makers and finishers cut the individual parts to size—these will later form a shoe—punch out the soles, and put them together. They pull the uppers onto the last and then stitch or glue the sole and the upper together. "I particularly enjoy the variety of the work steps involved and working with the leather," explains Philip Burkhart, who is in the second year of his training with Carl Semler.
Aspiring footwear makers and finishers should be motivated, responsible, independent and reliable and should also have a creative streak explains Dreingruber, adding that a sense of fashion is also required in addition to the craft skills.
"I have always been interested in making shoes," explains Selina-Sophie Franz, also a trainee with Carl Semler. She says that she particularly enjoys her work in the sewing room where the individual parts are stitched together. She finds some things more difficult than others. "Operating the huge machines is not so easy," explains the 20 year-old.
Both of the trainees come from the area around Primasens where, traditionally, many shoe producers have been based. The specialist German footwear school is also based here. The sector has not been left untouched by globalisation. At the start of the 2000s, many German shoe manufacturers moved their production abroad, explains Cristiane Reuter from the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) in Bonn.
Reuter says that footwear makers and finishers are now once again in demand. She says she rates the job prospects in the industry as good even though the sector is comparatively small. The opportunities for career advancement are, however, very good. "Skilled craft training as a footwear maker and finisher is the ideal basis for a professional career in the footwear industry," explains Dreingruber. Many managers started out as footwear makers and finishers.
Uwe Hartmann states that, depending on their year of training, trainees earn between 710 Euro and 830 Euro at Carl Semler, while the starting salary for qualified footwear makers and finishers is approximately 1,600 Euro. There is no formal requirement for any specific school leaving certificate for training as a shoemaker and finisher. Although, in practice, most trainees have the intermediate level school leaving certificate.
Nevertheless, many companies struggle to find new recruits, explains Cristiane Reuter. The job can also be tough, she adds. Working as a footwear maker and finisher also means being on your feet for a long time and having to cope with noise and unpleasant smells.
Because the materials and techniques for footwear makers and finishers are constantly developing, a new training regulation entered into force on 1 August 2017.
Reuter explains that there were changes in the areas of materials, production processes and in the variety of finish methods in particular. She points out that while traditional men's and women's shoe fashion is stagnating, the area of safety shoes and sports shoes is growing in importance.
If you can master each of these individual steps, you can call yourself a footwear maker and finisher. Uwe Hartmann, operations and training manager at the Carl Semler shoe factory in Pirmasens in Rhineland-Palatinate explains that the three year dual education and training chronologically follows the production of a shoe. It starts off with materials science in the leather store. "There they learn what the leather looks like and how it is produced."
The work requires concentration. The footwear makers and finishers cut the individual parts to size—these will later form a shoe—punch out the soles, and put them together. They pull the uppers onto the last and then stitch or glue the sole and the upper together. "I particularly enjoy the variety of the work steps involved and working with the leather," explains Philip Burkhart, who is in the second year of his training with Carl Semler.
Aspiring footwear makers and finishers should be motivated, responsible, independent and reliable and should also have a creative streak explains Dreingruber, adding that a sense of fashion is also required in addition to the craft skills.
"I have always been interested in making shoes," explains Selina-Sophie Franz, also a trainee with Carl Semler. She says that she particularly enjoys her work in the sewing room where the individual parts are stitched together. She finds some things more difficult than others. "Operating the huge machines is not so easy," explains the 20 year-old.
Both of the trainees come from the area around Primasens where, traditionally, many shoe producers have been based. The specialist German footwear school is also based here. The sector has not been left untouched by globalisation. At the start of the 2000s, many German shoe manufacturers moved their production abroad, explains Cristiane Reuter from the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) in Bonn.
Reuter says that footwear makers and finishers are now once again in demand. She says she rates the job prospects in the industry as good even though the sector is comparatively small. The opportunities for career advancement are, however, very good. "Skilled craft training as a footwear maker and finisher is the ideal basis for a professional career in the footwear industry," explains Dreingruber. Many managers started out as footwear makers and finishers.
Uwe Hartmann states that, depending on their year of training, trainees earn between 710 Euro and 830 Euro at Carl Semler, while the starting salary for qualified footwear makers and finishers is approximately 1,600 Euro. There is no formal requirement for any specific school leaving certificate for training as a shoemaker and finisher. Although, in practice, most trainees have the intermediate level school leaving certificate.
Nevertheless, many companies struggle to find new recruits, explains Cristiane Reuter. The job can also be tough, she adds. Working as a footwear maker and finisher also means being on your feet for a long time and having to cope with noise and unpleasant smells.
Because the materials and techniques for footwear makers and finishers are constantly developing, a new training regulation entered into force on 1 August 2017.
Reuter explains that there were changes in the areas of materials, production processes and in the variety of finish methods in particular. She points out that while traditional men's and women's shoe fashion is stagnating, the area of safety shoes and sports shoes is growing in importance.
Source: nwzonline.de (newspaper article in Nordwest Zeitung), revised by iMOVE, January 2018