The Volkswagen Group presented its annual “Best Trainee Awards 2016” to young top achievers from all over the world at Group headquarters in Wolfsburg recently.
The awards went to 45 trainees from 19 countries. The 45 winners, made up of nine young women and 36 young men showed high levels of competence and proficiency in their respective fields during their training programs.
The awards were presented by the Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, Matthias Müller, the Member of the Board of Management responsible for Human Resources, Organization and IT, Dr. Karlheinz Blessing and the President of the Global Group Works Council, Bernd Osterloh.
“The automotive industry is more exciting for young people than ever before,” said Müller. “Similar to the entire industry, our company is faced with major changes such as autonomous driving, e-mobility, innovative mobility concepts, digitalisation and connectivity. This means that we must update our knowledge and skills at an increasingly rapid pace.”
Müller congratulated the award winners and added: “I am proud of you. Please remain inquisitive and open to new developments and discover your opportunities in the changes that will take place.”
The 2016 South African recipient of the “Best Trainee Award” was Cuan George. The 25 year-old George joined Volkswagen Group South Africa as a Graduate Trainee in 2015. He currently works as a commodities buyer in the purchasing department.
“I feel honoured to be one of the 45 trainees in the Volkswagen Group to be presented with the 2016 Best Trainee award. I am very grateful to Volkswagen South Africa for giving me the opportunity to be part of the Graduate Trainee Programme as well as all the people in the company that have influenced my career development thus far,” said George.
Thomas Schaefer, Chairman and Managing Director: Volkswagen Group South Africa said, “Our Volkswagen Graduate Trainee programme has helped us to groom and nurture our young talent. The award bestowed to Cuan has confirmed that VWSA is doing the right things to develop its young crop of talented employees. We are very proud of Cuan’s achievement”.
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