DOCUMENT RESUME CE 061 721 ED 348 504 Franz, Hans-Werner; And Others AUTHOR Occupational Profiles in the European Steel TITLE Industry. European Centre for the Development of Vocational INSTITUTION Training, Berlin (Germany). ISBN-92-826-3901-0 REPORT NO PUB DATE 92 NOTE 31p. UNIPUB, 4661-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391 AVAILABLE FROM (Catalogue No. HX-73-92-837-EN-C). Research/Technical (143) Reports PUB TYPE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Competence; Employment Qualifications; Foreign DESCRIPTORS Countries; *Job Skills; *Job Training; *Manufacturing; *Metal Industry; *Occupational Information; Postsecondary Education; Semiskilled Workers; *Skilled Occupations; Vocational Education *Europe IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT The steel industry in Europe has faced great changes, with resulting layoffs and restructuring. Now that the most basic changes seem to be over, it has become evident that the "remaining steel industry requires more highly trained workers than was the case previously. Although steel maintenance employees were always highly skilled, steel production employees were usually semiskilled, learning their skills on the job in a narrow range of work and progressing in that category. For now and in the future, a new type of training for steel production workers is proposed. Workers would be expected to complete 10 years of mandatory schooling and then a 3- or 4-year training program in steel production. The training should include a broad base, lay the foundations for teamwork, and develop all-round skills. The following basic occupational training curricula would be developed: (1) skilled steel worker in process technology specializing in metallurgy, forming, or refining; (2) skilled steel worker in foundry technology specializing in hand mold casting or machine mold casting; and (3) metal materials test operator. (Detailed training requirements for these three occupations are listed.) (KC) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** (I) Occupational profiles in the European steel z oindustry 0. 0 U. 0 LLJ 111111M111111111111=1.1.1.m.mmoiminnummimp European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training U.S, DtvfARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office/of Educationai Research and improvement ED CATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) MIS document has been reproduced as received from the person or organaatron onginahng it C ?Amor changes have been made lb tmprOve ,ePrOCSUCtOn Quality Points of new or 0i:tattoos staled try thiSCIOCU otfictai Ment do not necessanty represent OERI position or poitcy * "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRAIITED BY a 0 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." BEST COPY AVAILABLE Occupational profiles in the European steel industry Hans-Werner Franz, Uwe Jurgenhake, Rainer Lichte Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund First edition, Berlin 1992 Published by: European Centre for the Development of CEDEFOP Vocational Training Jean Monnet House, Bundesallee 22, D-W-1000 Berlin 15 Tel. (030) 88 41 20; Fax (030) 88 41 22 22; Telex 184 163 eucen d The Centre was established by Regulation (EEC) No 337/75 of the Council of the European Communities Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1992 ISBN 92-826-3901-0 Articles and texts appearing in this document may be reproduced freely in whole or in part providing their source is mentioned. Printed in Belgium 4 -In- Foreword This short expertise has been prepared by sfs Dortmund on behalf of CEDEFOP to support the selection and definition of occupations, a task which is to be carried out in this sector by the experts of the Member States and by CEDEFOP itself in connection with the implementation of the Council Decision on the "Comparability of vocational training quali- fications" (see EC Official Journal L199 of July 1985). The analytical remarks presented in the expertise are likely to have parallels especially in those industries which depend very much on the steel industry such as the car and armaments industries. We can expect the results in connection with the comparability procedure '-o be available in the first half of These will define which occupations together with 1992. their profiles will be given priority for the purpose of comparing state-recognised training qualifications, thus enabling employees to assert themselves more forcefully with regard to their qualifications and allowing enterprises, if they so wish, to recruit the qualifications they need from beyond their own borders or within the European Community. Consequently it is not the aim of this expertise to press for occupations to be brought into direct line or even for This remains the responsibility of them to be harmonized. the Member States and the social partners within the frame- Nevertheless, the expertise might work of their autonomy. help them arrive at decisions. Burkart Sellin CEDEFOP, Berlin, December 1991 study commenced In 1987 on trends in training This expertise is based on a comparative See Franz, Hans-Werner; Licht., Rainer: requirements in the European steel industry. Ober die BedUrfnisse dor beruflichen Bildung in der Qualifikation fUr Qualitat. Studie quality. A study on the needs Eisen- and Stahlindustrie (Qualifrc.tion for europalschen iron and steel industry), pub. by the Commission of vocational training In the European Brussels/Luxembourg, 1991; abridged versions will of the European Communities, GO V, Italian and Spanish in addition to the presently be available in English, French, unabridged German edition. 5 CONTENTS Page Foreword III Structural Change in the Crisis 3 Excursus: Semiskilled key workers in 5 steel production Trends: Steel workers in the year 2000 8 Europrofile: Contours 13 worker in process Profile 1: Skilles steel 17 technology worker in Profile 2: Skilled steel foundry 20 technology Profile 3: Materials test operator 23 6 -3- Structural Chang. in the Crisis The rapid modernization of the steel industry during and as a result of the crisis since the mid-1970s has made fundamental changes in the vocational qualifications of those employed in the There are three main trends which will industry necessary. continue to have an impact in the future: While the redundant capacity crisis and the structural 1. changes linked to it seem to have been overcome on the whole, the technical and organizational rationalization Further efforts to in full process still swing. is automate (CIM) and the rationalization of processes (e.g. likelihood ensure will strip all casting) its in These continuation or even acceleration through the 1990s. establish the need for much higher developments will qualifications not only because of technical change but also as a result of the related organizational changes in companies. industrialized The developed the industry steel in 2. countries has changed in quality as a result of the crisis. Steel has become a highly differentiated product that must marcet controlled prove by customers' itself on a In a market determined by price and (perhaps requirements. even more) product quality, reliable delivery (just-in- time), after-sales service and innovative capacity, and with massive automation playing a vital role, production conditions in the steel industry have been revolutionized. Apart from maintenance and servicing, more and more often human labour is "only" running, controlling and optimizing 7 -4- processes with the help of electronic data processing systems in measuring stations and control rooms. Higher requirements with regard to product quality and flexibility within the overall organization of a company not only cast doubt on the traditional form of vocational training in production (training on the job) and the increasing degree of overlapping in job profiles in the maintenance sector, it also questions the conventional ways the work is organized. Heightened competition with non-European suppliers will do 3. up the race to in prolonging and part speeding its rationalize. production The standard technical of facilities will tend to play a less and less vital role in this process since state-of-the-art machinery can be bought comparatively easily in the transfer of know-how. The crucial factor will tend more and more to be whether management succeeds in orientating the overall organization The prerequiSite for of a company to the new requirements. this will be to train and use virtually every employee and the entire staff in such a way that they - each member as an individual and the staff as a whole - are also willing and able to fulfil the high practical and processing requirements expected of steel as a product. This background, which applies to numerous other sectors as well, sets the steel industry very special tasks since the vast majority of those employed in production have at their disposal only practical skills and knowledge that are closely related to their respective work place. In view of the changed and still semi-skilled requirements, changing workers, and they in -5- particular, also need constant continuing training. Excursus: Semi-skilled key workers in stool production Regardless of national or cultural borders, the qualifications structure of staff employed in the mills of the steel industry Production work and the work common basic pattern: has a performed by maintenance and servicing personnel are sharply divided, and the value placed on the formal qualifications of those employed in these two areas differs considerably. Production work is traditionally performed by staff commonly known as semi-skilled workers. This is the case in all the steel Although the idea of works we surveyed in Western Europe. creating a production occupation was mooted in some countries in the 1930s, these considerations only bore fruit from the 1960s onward, and then only in a minority of the countries we visited. Even in the early 1960s, coastal steel works went into operation with "green labour" (fishermen, farmers, etc. lacking industrial and trade union experience). These semi-skilled production workers have often completed a proper course of voc &tional training but being unable to find They comparably paid work, they then switch to the steel mills. end up in departments which have an extremely hierarchical They are trained on the structure and high division of labour. job by their more experienced workmates (the buddy system) for Usually they learn to the various individual work places. Over operate only one set of machines or a limited area of work. a long period of time, they slowly rise to the top positions in -6- these work structures, usually in the area in which they began. In contrast to this, in maintenance and repair and in many and ancillary service facilities, without almost we find exception skilled workers. They have been given a three- or four-year apprenticeship, which is the norm in most European countries, to train them specifically for their duties in these And they receive - sometimes even systematically areas. - continuing vocational training much more frequently than their semi-skilled workmates in production. In these areas companies have found tried and tested solutions which suffice on a long- term basis to establish the necessary qualified manpower, even though these areas may at times be afflicted with temporary training deficits (when introducing new techniques, for example) . The structure of the workforce in the field of production work is an area that is unanimously seen as becoming more and more of a problem (even if all companies do not draw the same conclusions with regard to training measures). The reasons for this are obvious: The thinning out of staff and tighter work schedules no a. longer guarantee successful on-the-job training in the buddy system; Production work (and thus its directly learnable contents) b. becoming less transparent while abstract less and is systems knowledge on process and control technology for computer-aided production has become essential;