With its “StartUp Europe” trainee program, the Volkswagen Group has already enabled 136 young people from Spain, Portugal and Italy to gain international experience. 92 of the young engineers have now received employment contracts within the Group, while other budding talents are currently completing the program which was especially tailored for them. Volkswagen launched StartUp Europe in 2012 for young graduates from Spain and Portugal and extended the program to Italy in 2014.
Since it was launched, the StartUp Europe trainee program has attracted considerable interest among university graduates in Spain, Portugal and Italy. About 7,000 young men and women have already applied to participate in the program. Following a successful application, program participants are initially employed for two years. They spend the first few months of the program working in their home country before being assigned to a German Group company for up to 21 months. The participants benefit from seminars and language courses which make it easier for them to start work within the Group.
The first group of trainees started with SEAT in Spain 2012 and completed the program in 2014. In 2013 graduates joined the program via VW Navarra in Spain and the first Portuguese graduates gained experience within the Group via Volkswagen Autoeuropa in Portugal. The first trainee program for Italian engineers started in 2014. Volkswagen Group companies Seat, VW Navarra, VW Autoeuropa, Ducati, Lamborghini, Italdesign Giugiaro and VW Group Italia are all taking part in the StartUp Europe program. In Germany, participants work for Volkswagen and Audi.
