STILL welcomes 58 new apprentices and dual study students
Today marks the start of an exciting new chapter in the lives of 58 young adults, as they begin their apprenticeship or dual study programmes at STILL's Hamburg headquarters or one of its seven branch offices across Germany. The apprentices and dual study students can look forward to a varied programme across seven apprenticeship programmes and four dual study programmes, in which professional excellence, social skills and a respectful working environment are given high priority.
“Welcome to STILL! We’re delighted to have you here,” said Jan Wehlen, STILL’s training manager, his voice echoing through the ‘Arena’ at the company’s Hamburg headquarters this morning. At the ‘Welcome Day’, the event at which the intralogistics specialist traditionally welcomes its new apprentices and students, the young adults immediately gained an insight into the warmth, appreciation, and personalised knowledge sharing that are highly valued at STILL. After being welcomed by the training team, the new starters were given an initial insight into the company’s values and philosophy, as well as its innovative solutions and services for smart in-house material flow.
Apprentices meet apprentices: A warm welcome to the STILL family
The training team, master craftsmen and women, and apprentices and students from previous cohorts are always involved in this process. STILL particularly values interaction with the other apprentices. "Of course, many of the new apprentices and students are nervous on their first day. We want to help them overcome this and make their start as easy as possible. And who better to do that than those who were in the same position just a year ago?” Jan Wehlen explains.
A sense of togetherness right from the start: Handover between the training cohorts
For this reason, today's 'Welcome Day' was not the first time that the young professionals from Hamburg had visited the STILL factory. A few weeks ago, they were invited to attend the ceremonial ‘passing of the baton’ at the STILL training workshop. On that occasion, the 34 Hamburg graduates from the 2022 training and study cohort were officially bid farewell by the training workshop. The graduating cohort presented the incoming cohort with the specially crafted baton and wished them every success for their upcoming training and study period. “The baton is intended to give the new trainees and students a sense of belonging and camaraderie even before their first day at STILL,” explained STILL training supervisor Maximilian Schwenn.
100 per cent retention rate at STILL Hamburg
Incidentally, it is highly likely that the new apprentices and students will meet their predecessors again. This is because all 34 graduates have been hired by STILL and have taken up positions in various areas of the company. "Our top priority is providing young people with a sound education, inspiring them to take an interest in the industry and in STILL, and preparing them as well as possible — both professionally and personally — for the dynamic job market. We are therefore delighted that we were able to offer all graduates a suitable role within the company," says training manager Jan Wehlen. "We are equally delighted that they all wanted to stay with us and have embraced their new roles at STILL with enthusiasm and commitment."
An exciting few weeks of onboarding are now set to begin for the 2026 intake of apprentices and students. They will gain further insights into the various professional and learning environments and receive briefings on the latest safety and prevention standards. This will be interspersed with a variety of team-building activities, culminating in the week-long 'forklift truck construction seminar'.
With the start of the 2026 training year, STILL will be training a total of 241 young talents across eight sites in Germany, through seven different apprenticeship programmes and eight dual study programmes. Information on all the training opportunities is available at www.still.de/karriere.
