Hankook Increasing Hungary Trained Staff Alongside Capacity

Hankook Tire has announced it will double its manufacturing capacity to 10 million tyres per annum by 2011, employing a further 700 skilled workers at its plant in Hungary. 450 new staff will be taken on in 2010 and 250 in 2011. The Korean company said it was “committed to long-term investment in Hungary”, a statement it supports with the tyre manufacturer vocational education and training programme it launched in cooperation with Regional Labour Offices and Lorántffy Zsuzsanna Secondary School in 2009.

Registered unemployed workers can apply for the programme with “a guaranteed, long-term and safe job” for those completing the course successfully, says Hankook. The training is registered with the National Education Register and participants receive a vocational qualification at the end of the course. The 4-month-long programme consists of 500 hours worth of academic and technical sessions. Subjects include technology, chemistry, academic skills, raw materials, measurement, mechanics, work safety, environment protection and legal regulation. The curriculum covers different fields of tyre manufacturing, from mixing to quality control. The 200-hour academic training is managed by the secondary school, and the 300-hour technical training is held at Hankook’s European factory.

Up to the end of March, nine courses have begun with the participation of more than 270 registered unemployed workers. Hankook has already employed 131 of the next generation rubber professionals completing the course. The programme continues throughout the year, eighteen courses will run in 2010.

Sang II Lee, Hankook Tire Hungary managing director said: “Qualified professionals are the key to our success. Not only is Hankook Tire committed to expand our manufacturing facility at Rácalmás, but also we are committed to the local community. That is why we invest into the education and training of registered unemployed workers, and guarantee them a long-term safe job when they become rubber professionals. We are proud to create long-term safe jobs thus offering perspective to unemployed people and contribute to the local community.”

“We find the tyre manufacturer NQR training very successful and important. There is no better training, which provides a safe and long-term job at the end of the course.” – said Ferenc Soós, deputy director general for Central Transdanubian Labor Office.

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