The testimony of Prostand, partner of MEETING 2023 as service provider for fit-outs. The Prostand Corporate Academy: concrete help for those who want to qualify and retrain in the temporary fit-out sector.
The free courses such as ‘WOOD TECHNOLOGIST’ and ‘RIGGER’, promoted by the Prostand Corporate Academy and financed by the Emilia-Romagna Region, have reached the halfway mark.
The wood technologist, a highly specialised and sought-after figure in the labour market, works throughout the world of furnishings, trade-fair and congress organisation and as a furniture designer, with multiple career opportunities in the natural materials industry.
12 participants are attending the theoretical-practical lessons of the course with great interest. There is a clear predominance of women: exactly double the male presence. The average age is 43 years and the phenomenon is well explained by the fact that 5 of them already have a job and want to deepen their knowledge and skills by acquiring, moreover, a title recognised at European level. The other 7 enrolled are people who, for various reasons, want to get back into the world of work after years away and, in a far-sighted way, have chosen the path of training in a leading sector of the economy, that of trade fair and furniture supplies.
The Rigger is a highly specialised figure in the temporary set-up sector, competent in occupational safety practices that enable the operator to set up, assemble and position suspension systems suitable for lifting and supporting set-ups, scenic equipment and auxiliary structures at height, with an activity that takes place both at height and on the ground.
In the Rigger course, there are 17 participants, of which 3 are women and almost a third are foreigners. The average age is decidedly lower (36 years) also considering the type of activity that the graduates will undertake. Almost all of them have never worked in the sector and are in full training.
Already now, those taking part in the courses are also doing practical internships in companies in the two specific buys. There are in fact five companies, in addition to Prostand, that welcome students for practical work placements.
The courses, promoted by the Prostand Corporate Academy, are managed and organised by the non-profit organisation OB SERVICE/Città dei Maestri. The philosophy behind the Academy is investment in human capital, with the aim of facilitating a rapid and relevant entry into the world of work. At the same time, the school is strongly oriented towards Corporate Social Responsibility with support for people wishing to re-enter the labour market, women and the over 40s.
Roberto Bondioli, CEO of Prostand: ‘The Prostand Corporate Academy was created to provide a concrete response to the critical shortage of qualified personnel. Our striving for continuous improvement has led us to embark on a path of constant updating of the knowledge and skills of our designers and specialised workforce as well, so that they are always adapted to the dizzying development of technology and materials.
The data regarding course participants reinforce our conviction that the mismatch between demand and supply of labour, as well as the difficulty in finding qualified personnel in the trade fair construction sector, a dominant theme in Italy especially in the post-pandemic period also in other companied, can only be solved with a strong alliance between the public and private sectors. The path we have taken is a small example that could also be replicated within other sectors with great advantage for those who want to qualify and retrain, as well as for companies’. Giordano Pecci, President of the non-profit organisation OB Service-Città dei Maestri:‘From my experience it is of great satisfaction and fills one with self-esteem to find a job for which one is qualified and which responds to one’s desire for happiness. The didactic training is based on the human enhancement of the person in order to foster positive self-perception in the working context on the assumption that, in order to work effectively, each student must be motivated and have passion for his or her future profession. Teachers accompany students along this path of both professional and human growth in order to bring out the talent they possess, starting from the assumption that each one of us is a value’.
The details
The Wood Technologist course, which envisages 340 hours of classroom training and 160 hours of internship in the company, opened in April 2023 and will end in December 2023, issuing the certificate of ‘Wood Furniture Production Technologist’ recognised in Italy with validity throughout Europe (pursuant to DGR 739/2013 Level EQF6).
The course as Rigger consists of 400 hours of classroom training, 200 hours of internship in the company. The course from May 2023 to January 2024, will allow, to obtain the Professional Qualification Certificate of ‘Rigger: Technician of Work at Height’ (pursuant to DGR 739/2013).
Both courses are free of charge as they are financed by the Emilia-Romagna Region with the aim of boosting the employment of new highly specialised figures.