They meet with their classes in the company auditorium, which has been transformed into four classrooms and two computer rooms. More than half the company's 1,200 workers are attending classes in this first semester of operation for Aluminum Shapes University. Both the employer and the community benefit when workers' skills are boosted this way, said Bill Mink, director of customized training for Camden County Community College. If anything should happen to the company, trained workers will be better prepared to move into new jobs,he said. Courses at Aluminum Shapes University are not required for all employees, although Grabell said he hopes employees will take as many courses as they can.
Tuition is free, and employees are paid for half of all the time they spend in class.
Aluminum Shapes is one of about 400 companies nationwide that have established corporate universities, said Curtis Plott, president and chief executive officer of the American Society for Training and Development. Manufacturing companies, in particular, tend to invest heavily in training, because the efficiency of their operations is so dependent on workers' skill levels, Plott said. About 48 percent of manufacturing companies offer job skills training, and 5 percent offer basic skills training, according to a 1998 ASTD survey of 540 companies in various industries. About 68 percent of employees in heavy manufacturing have received training from their companies, the study found. The idea of having corporate universities is a relatively recent trend that started with Motorola and Disney.