Managing the skilled workers of tomorrow

We are committed to acting as a competent interface between the local economy and the skilled workers of tomorrow.

The looming shortage of skilled workers and deficits in digitization are increasingly becoming a problem for companies that want to position themselves for the future. With our skilled workers team – MGconnect, the foundation of the same name, the Bo-Fit, EFRE-Future Boards, MINT in MIND funding programs and the zdi Center Mönchengladbach initiative – we are committed to acting as a competent interface between the local economy and the skilled workers of tomorrow.

The focus is primarily on small and medium-sized enterprises. Always in cooperation with partners such as the Employment Agency, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the School and Sports Department of the City of Mönchengladbach and the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, we optimize the relationship between students, teachers and the local economy. We make young people fit for working life at an early stage and enable them to make a targeted choice between studying and training. We match students who are ready for training with companies willing to train them and get them excited – always not from the ivory tower, but in practice – especially about STEM professions and digitization. To this end, we develop innovative formats and courses and provide digital platforms we have developed ourselves. We give students with a desire to study an orientation in the multitude of study offers and show them career prospects in Mönchengladbach after having finished studying.

We and our partners, including institutions, educational institutions and small and medium-sized businesses, have been successfully working on the transition from school to work in Mönchengladbach for more than 20 years, thus helping to ensure that companies at the site will continue to be supplied with sufficient young talent in terms of both quality and quantity.

History

In location policy discourse, education occupies a prominent position for companies and families. For this reason, the city administration and the WFMG initiated the MGconnect interface in 2006 to improve relations between students, teachers and the local economy. In order to safeguard their activities in the long term, the stakeholders and Mönchengladbach-based companies set up the non-profit MGconnect foundation in 2010. Since its launch, the foundation has been working on getting young people excited about their future career at an early stage and setting goals for their school performance to help them to choose a university degree course or vocational training.

Contact

Axel Tillmanns
team leader
tillmanns@wfmg.de
Tel.: +49 2161 82379-76

Christine Coulen
(on parental leave)
coulen@wfmg.de
Tel: +49 2161 82379-789

Yvonne Cremer
cremer@wfmg.de
Tel.: +49 2161 82379-782

Ricarda Sybertz
sybertz@wfmg.de
Tel.: +49 2161 82379-781

Björn Hollburg
zdi
hollburg@wfmg.de
Tel.: +49 2161 82379-780