Catching up professional qualification with Zalando

“Sitting down, being quiet and taking notes were all a real challenge for me!” Elizabeth laughs when she thinks back to her first few weeks at the course. It’s been a long time since the 47-year-old team lead from Pick at our fulfillment center in Erfurt attended school. The many German technical terms made everything that little bit more complicated too. But Elizabeth, who originally comes from Cuba, loves learning new skills. Since she started working at Zalando nine years ago, she has developed into a problem solver, a special function that supports colleagues with upcoming problems in the work process. Elizabeth has been a member of the Works Council since March 2020, and for two years she leads a team in Pick.

Now Elizabeth is well on her way to becoming a warehouse logistics specialist. As part of the course, she completed a nine-month professional qualification program, which is available in our logistics sites in Erfurt and Lahr, in a number of different departments. All 14 participants of the program in Erfurt are given time off work on full pay to complete the academic part, their practical training and the examinations. The final step in the program is a set of examinations at the chamber of industry and commerce, which result in a recognized professional qualification that is valid throughout Germany. Elizabeth traveled from her home in Weimar to Erfurt Bildungszentrum to complete the academic part of the course. Her fellow students elected her and her colleague Sven as class spokespersons, a job both of them were happy to take on.

“I greatly appreciate the chance to complete a German professional qualification,” Elizabeth says. “I don’t think I would have had this opportunity at another company.” For Elizabeth, one of the greatest benefits of the course has been developing her vocabulary. It’s a feeling many of her classmates share, as roughly half of them do not speak German as their native language. “It’s not always easy, but we help each other out, are learning lots of new words in a short time and have quickly grown into a family. I can tell you it’s really worth it!”

If you want to learn more about the work at Zalando and how we support the development of our employees, you can find more information here.