Teixidó’s Head of Industrial HR, Enric Roda, reflects on the sector and argues that what is needed is to train and educate young people to work in this field, particularly young women, in order to meet demand.
Located in Riudecols, in a rural setting, Industrias Teixidó SA is a family company founded in May 1952 by Artemio Teixidó. The company started out, with just a handful of workers, manufacturing parts for reading glass frames. Now, seventy-one years later, it is the only company in the entire municipality, with over 450 workers, and is a local institution. In the metallurgical sector, the company is dedicated to the mass production of high-quality and high-precision machined parts for third parties in the automobile, computer, home appliance, pneumatic and hydraulic sectors, to name just a few. Over ten years ago, Industrias Teixidó was one of the first companies to place their trust in FP Dual when it comes to holding on to young talent and growing together. This work was recognised by the Government of Catalonia last year. Nonetheless, Head of Human Resources, Enric Roda, says that it is necessary to educate and train more qualified professionals, especially young women.
What is the professional profile of the members of your team?
What we need is qualified staff, people able to competently cover industrial positions. They normally come from Vocational Training Centres that teach industrial specialties. These are degrees relating to mechanical manufacturing. Basically, the Degree in Mechanical Manufacturing, the Higher Degree in Design of Mechanical Manufacturing and the Degree in Programming for Mechanical Manufacturing; also, the Higher Degree in Industrial Mechatronic Engineering and the Higher Degrees in Occupational Safety, Quality Control and Analysis, and Automation and Industrial Robotics.
Which colleges do you collaborate with?
We currently work, among others, with Jaume Huguet, in Valls; Pere Martell and Conde de Rius, in Tarragona; and Domènech i Montaner, in Reus. Nonetheless, we have insisted that more people are needed, young people to take these training and educational courses.
Even so, is there a lack of qualified professionals?
Indeed. There are a lot of other companies with the same shortfall as us as there are not enough young people studying these specialties. That’s why it is difficult to find workers, in terms of both quality and quantity.
What is the percentage of females in these jobs?
I would say about 90% of the people working these jobs are male. It’s hard enough to find young men, young women are almost impossible to find.
Why is that?
Generally speaking, it is a social question. The industrial sector is not always viewed positively by young people. I think there are outdated ideas around this, or lack of knowledge. We need to explain to them what we do and that it is a good professional alternative.
What measures do you think should be taken to reverse the situation?
Personally, I think there should be a serious focus on orientation at high school level, or even earlier, if necessary, by the Department of Education, to explain to young people that these jobs are qualified, stable and well-paid. There also needs to be an effort to bring more women into this type of work, as it is currently very male-dominated.
