BMW Talent Campus: Billions for education

The doors are open: on Thursday, the BMW Group Talent Campus in Munich was officially inaugurated. In the state-of-the-art new building, employees acquire the skills of the future. In the heart of the Munich main plant, the BMW Group makes visible the great importance of training and further education in the company and how successful transformation is achieved.

“The BMW Group is entering a new era with the Neue Klasse. In our new Talent Campus, we inspire and empower our 40,000 employees at the Munich site for the mobility of the future. The BMW Talent Campus scores in three ways: it secures our skills for today and tomorrow, it is a clear commitment to the city of Munich and a positive signal for Germany as a location. Innovations and competitiveness ensure growth and jobs. For this, we rely on well-trained specialists, high flexibility, productivity increases through digitalisation and AI, as well as lower ancillary wage costs. We are investing in this location because we believe that Germany can achieve renewal now,” said Ilka Horstmeier, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Human Resources and Real Estate, Labour Director.

Investment in new knowledge: Over one billion euros for education

In the past three years, the BMW Group has invested over one billion euros in training and education worldwide to prepare the workforce for the mobility of the future, where electrification and digitalisation play a crucial role. The company has set the course early on to successfully shape the technological leap associated with the Neue Klasse with the right skills.

Katherina Reiche, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, emphasised in her speech: “BMW is sending a strong signal for Germany as a location, for Munich as a location, especially in times of upheaval: with investments in state-of-the-art technologies and above all in its greatest asset - the people. With foresight, BMW promotes the development of talents and young people, combines technological excellence with innovative strength, and thus ensures that Munich remains a centre for cutting-edge technology and pioneering products in the future.”

For over 100 years, young people have been trained at the BMW Group and have excellent future prospects from the very beginning. After successfully completing their training, they are taken on in permanent employment. Even during their training, they will benefit from the offerings at the Talent Campus.

Dr Martin Kimmich, chairman of the general works council of BMW AG: "With the Talent Campus, we are making a strong statement for the future: we are investing not only in the most advanced technologies, but above all in the colleagues who shape them. Qualification, further training, and equal opportunities are the basis for the BMW Group to remain successful tomorrow. The Talent Campus is a place where ideas grow, talents are nurtured, and perspectives are opened - for our current and future employees".

Social responsibility in training

The young people are not only trained to become experts in the latest technologies; in designing the training content, the BMW Group also assumes social responsibility. Social participation, social competence, and understanding of democracy, especially among the younger generation, are becoming increasingly important. That is why we create opportunities where critical thinking, the assessment of information, respectful interaction, and a solution-oriented discussion culture are promoted in vocational training. The BMW Group is convinced that strong social cohesion and solidarity are the basis for security and economic success.

The BMW Group strengthens Germany as an economic location

Each individual employee and the company as a whole benefit from being empowered with new skills and tasks. Together with its employees, the BMW Group demonstrates how successful transformation can be achieved in Germany and how future-proof jobs can be created. The Talent Campus and the BMW Group Plant Munich are visible evidence of this. The main plant in the north of Munich is currently being fundamentally rebuilt to produce models of the fully electric Neue Klasse in the future. With investments like these, the BMW Group is also committed to Germany as an economic location and simultaneously sets important impulses for competitiveness and growth.

Commitment to Munich: The Talent Campus opens up to the neighbourhood

The Talent Campus is part of the overall site concept "Urban Production". Through an international architectural competition, it has been possible, in close cooperation with the city of Munich, to integrate a modern production plant into the urban residential area while simultaneously connecting with the neighbourhood. The Talent Campus plays a key role in this. Its transparent design allows for insights and views and invites encounters in the neighbourhood: green spaces become meeting points, a public café is also open to residents of the north of Munich and enables exchange and communication.

Inspiring campus atmosphere

With the talent campus, the BMW group has created an architecturally inspiring place, which the 270 new trainees who started their training in Munich in September have already been able to experience. The wooden facade of the building and the large window fronts, which allow plenty of daylight into the classrooms and workshops, create a pleasant learning atmosphere. At the same time, the wooden construction has contributed to reducing the construction time by about a third, as drying times are eliminated. Together with the existing buildings and training facilities in the immediate vicinity, an open campus atmosphere has been created where learning is enjoyable.

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