HandwerkDigitalKA: craft.ROADSHOW
Many trade businesses still have some catching up to do when it comes to digitalization. Sometimes there is a lack of time for the overdue modernization of internal communication structures, sometimes there is a lack of suitable IT for the respective industry. This also has an impact on recruiting young talent. In the loose series #HandwerkDigitalKA,
karlsruhe.digital presents pioneers from Karlsruhe, the numerous possibilities for networking analogue trades and digital applications and Karlsruhe initiatives relating to digitalization in the trades. Today with the “craft.ROASDHOW” project, which aims to inspire young people for the skilled trades.
If the prophet does not come to the mountain, the mountain must come to the prophet. The Kreishandwerkerschaft Region Karlsruhe has adopted this proverb in its fight against the shortage of skilled workers. In the multimedia craft.ROADSHOW, the drum is beaten at schools to promote skilled trades. The project is a collaboration between the District Craftsmen’s Association and the City of Karlsruhe’s Economic Development Department. The city of Karlsruhe has developed a framework for action with the so-called lead project “Action Program Craft” in order to actively promote local crafts through targeted measures and projects. The Craft.ROADSHOW is embedded in the corridor theme “Business and Science City”, for which First Mayor Gabriele Luczak-Schwarz is responsible.
Taking young people seriously and reaching them where they spend their time
The patron is Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Culture Theresa Schopper. The craft.ROADSHOW was launched three years ago. “We knew back then that something new was needed. We had to move with the times and offer a format that would be well received where it belonged,” explains Oliver Witzemann, project manager for the Crafts Action Program at the City of Karlsruhe’s Economic Development Agency. Since its launch, the new format has been staged at ten schools in front of over 300 young people despite coronavirus restrictions, and is set to really take off in the coming year. “The show is growing with its tasks and is getting better and better,” says Andreas Reifsteck, Managing Director of the Kreishandwerkerschaft, drawing a positive interim conclusion.
The most important success factor for Reifsteck is the many conversations at eye level. At the craft.RAODSHOW, trainees come to schools to present their work and answer any questions the pupils may have. The craft.ROADSHOW also focuses on low-threshold and increasingly digital offers in all other areas.
Score points with digital offers
Taking young people seriously and meeting them where they spend their time is the motto. Master painter, successful entrepreneur, twelve-time patent holder and nationally renowned comedian Oliver Gimber, who has numerous fans on social media under the catchphrase “Witz vom Olli” (Olli’s joke), is an important advertising ambassador. Pupils also get a direct line to an internship in a craft business. With “Alisa helps“, Alisa Ehlgötz of the Kreishanderwerschaft quickly and easily finds the right craft business.
The full range of content is available online as well as in the on-site formats. Interested parties can download an app or simply access the content in their browser. “The digital offer perfectly complements the roadshow. The centerpiece on site are posters and displays with QR codes for in-depth reading or viewing,” explains Witzemann, “with the online career check, this content is also pre-sorted and made available purely digitally according to interest. Simply answer the questions and find your dream job”.
On the way to the digital future
“We want to make craftsmanship more visible again,” says Reifsteck, explaining one reason for the project. In many families these days, there are no longer any painters, hairdressers or carpenters, which is why people no longer talk about the trades at the kitchen table. The aim is also to polish up the dusty image and show young people how cool an apprenticeship in a trade can be. “Digitalization is a very important point here,” emphasizes Reifsteck. Many young people simply don’t know that mechatronics engineers or electricians work with tablets or on computers almost every day.
Reifsteck believes that the skilled trades sector in Karlsruhe is well on the way to a digital future. Numerous companies have been trained in recent years, and the shortage of skilled workers is also increasing the pressure on companies. “If you don’t have enough people, you have to work more efficiently,” says Reifsteck. “Then there is no way around digitalization.” Research institutions such as the Research Center for Information Technology (FZI) with its House of Living Labs are also driving this development. “Innovative concepts for the future of living are being developed there,” says Reifsteck. “But that won’t work without tradespeople who bring these concepts to the people.”
Most skilled trades businesses in Karlsruhe are currently suffering from a shortage of skilled workers. Satisfactory numbers of applicants can only be found in mechatronics and electrics in the district trades association’s business area – partly because digitalization is particularly advanced in these professions. “However, new occupational fields are also developing in the areas of smart home, smart building and energy management,” explains Witzemann. For example, there is a new apprenticeship called “Electronics technician for building system integration”. Projects like the craft.ROADSHOW are needed to make such developments visible and to help shed the dusty image of the skilled trades.