▲ From left: Miriam Cuadrado, Purificación Valencia, and Lucía Herrero, who are working at SK Primacor Europe, a Spanish subsidiary of SK Geo Centric

EAA: Ethylene Acrylic Acid, a high value-added chemical product. As a functional adhesive copolymer, it is mainly used as an adhesive for packaging materials such as aluminum foil or polyethylene.

▲ The office building (left) and manufacturing plant (right) of SK Primacor Europe in Tarragona, Spain

Ever since SK Primacor Europe (SKPE) took over operations at Tarragona plant in 2018, it has been joining hands with local educational centers to bring more job opportunities and to provide training programs that nurture of the future talents in the community.

The program that SKPE collaborates with local educational institutions is called FP Dual*. It is a two year industry & school cooperation program that combines regular education at a vocational school with apprenticeship at a company. This system is practiced in several countries, notably Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium. In this specific program, students gain technical knowledge by attending teaching lessons during the first year, then they can receive on-the-job training at a company like SKPE according to their preference after passing exams and going through the company’s selection process.

*FP Dual: FP stands for “Formacion Profesional”, which is the degree associated to vocational training in Spain. FP Dual is the specific name of the vocational training when it mixes teaching lessons and professional experience.

Every year, SKPE welcomes new students enrolled in the Industrial Chemistry training program of FP Dual, who aim to qualify as chemical plant operators at the end of the program. Students are trained to be able to autonomously perform both field and laboratory tasks. All staff members at SKPE contribute in the training process and integrate students in their day-to-day schedules to offer them actual professional experiences and fulfill their training objectives, while broadening their knowledge on technical concepts they have studied during their first year.

Aside from practical training, during the program, the students also receive financial aid and meal allowance. When the training program is completed, they will obtain a certification that enables them to work in chemical companies.

For SKPE, this is a great way to discover new potentials and create a qualified talent pool that includes people who were already trained by SKEP’s standards, and thus make it easier for them to get adapt to work when they join the company. In fact, some of the current operators in SKPE were hired through this program. Additionally, from a social value standpoint, this program enables students to gain abilities and competencies that will help them successfully integrate in a professional environment, hence, creating new employment opportunities locally.

Let’s meet Miriam Cuadrado and Lucia Herrero, two students who are receiving this training program at SKPE from September this year to June next year, to find out what they think about this opportunity.

Lucia and Miriam are currently guided by Purificación Valencia, a field operator of SKPE, and their general supervisor is Jon Estevez, an operation leader. Purificación revealed her reasons to be a mentor as follows:

Jon Estevez also gave some comments regarding the dual training program:

Meanwhile, SKPE also collaborates with vocational schools in other activities, such as the promotion of STEM vocations among women, thereby offering employment conditions in equal opportunities.