bold spirit - ArcelorMittal South Africa

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ArcelorMittal South Africa
Annual Report 2010
Growing a robust skills pipeline continued
We are currently funding 22 bursaries, identified through the
ArcelorMittal Science centres.
both qualified and competent. A
total of 168 artisans completed
the programme during the year, of
which 90% come from historically
disadvantaged groups.
• Production learners: we doubled
the number of production learners
during the year to 421, adding
these to the 1 400 learners
brought in for implementation of
the fourth-team shift system.
These learners will provide a critical
production skills pipeline to fill the
gap which will be caused by the
attrition of current production
employees who are retiring.
Internal programmes to develop
technical skills
• Internship programme: this twoyear
programme employs university
graduates with BCom/BA degrees
(GITs), graduates with engineering
degrees and engineering diplomas
to provide them with hands-on
work experience before they are
absorbed into the company fulltime.
Six new GITs were employed
this year, with a further 15 starting
in 2011. Of these 21 GITs, 19 are
black. The engineering graduates
come through our university
supported programmes which we
sponsor with 43 graduates with
engineering degrees and 28 with
engineering diplomas in our pipeline
during 2010.
• Artisan-to-technician conversion
programme: this programme, run in
partnership with the Vaal University
of Technology, currently has 85
artisans in the pipeline who are
converting their qualifications to
those of technicians. We are looking
to use ‘virtual classroom’ learning in
2011 to accommodate production
employees from Saldanha Works
wishing to do a similar conversion.
• Virtual classroom: the virtual
classroom at Newcastle Works
continues to deliver outstanding
results, with artisan-to-technician
conversion students achieving
pass rates of between 90% and
100%. September saw the first
‘live’ international transmission
with the ArcelorMittal University
in Luxembourg, an exciting
development that will allow more
of our employees to benefit from
the university’s training at a fraction
of the cost.
External programmes to improve
the quality of skills from schools,
colleges and universities
• Teacher-in-service Programme:
we continue to volunteer our
services to the Teacher-inservice
Programme, run by
the International Institute for
Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
This programme helps school
educators make the link between
the maths and science principles
taught in the classroom and their
practical application in the field of
engineering.
• School career guidance: plans
are in place for the development
of a career guidance DVD that
will showcase the various career
options in the engineering field to
secondary-school learners. We plan
to distribute this DVD to schools,
career expos and at our science
centres.
• University and further education
and training (FET) college industry
partnerships: we continue to work
closely with universities and FET
colleges, advising them on how
to align their curricula with the
real needs of industry. We are
investigating the possibility of an
exchange programme with FET
colleges, whereby we will host
their lecturers at our plants on
six-month sabbatical programmes
to provide them with further
hands-on insight into the industry.
In turn, our employees will get