The refrigeration sector: a job driver and career maker

For the third time in a row, BITZER is supporting World Refrigeration Day which falls on the 26th of June each year, the date of birth of the physicist and inventor of the thermodynamic temperature scale William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin. The industry has been using this day to draw attention to its importance since 2019. Be it in food production, pharmaceuticals or logistics involving heat-sensitive products, refrigeration and air conditioning technolgy is needed everywhere to maintain optimal conditions. Many people are unaware that complex machines have to be developed, manufactured, built and maintained in order to provide cooling. While the significance of sophisticated, environmentally friendly air conditioning is indeed growing in the industry, it is also becoming increasingly important in the context of climate change. Refrigeration is a growing market that is continually investing in the development of new, even more environmentally friendly systems. Also heat pumps, an alternative for cooling and heating without fossil fuels, are part of the industry’s portfolio and an ideal solution on the road to sustainable energy generation.

This year’s World Refrigeration Day celebrates the people in refrigeration and air conditioning businesses and its theme is ‘Cooling Champions: Cool Careers for a Better World’. World Refrigeration Day aims to inspire students and young professionals around the world to take on the challenges facing society by seeking a job in this important sector. ‘BITZER and the refrigeration and air conditioning sector as a whole are in an excellent position and offer outstanding career opportunities. We are not just looking for qualified refrigeration technicians, but also motivated and qualified members of staff for other departments such as Application Consulting, Sales, Testing and Product Marketing. The positions are as diverse as the sector itself’, explains Ulrich Harm, Director Human Resources at BITZER.

Expertise for the sector

The machines used to generate cooling and in industrial heat pumps are complex pieces of technology. In 2016, BITZER opened the SCHAUFLER Academy, its international training centre in Rottenburg-Ergenzingen, to keep not only its own employees, but also the staff in the industry up to date and train them continuously. More than 30,000 participants have studied alternative refrigerants, intelligent electronics and energy efficiency there since then. Special programmes are even available for schools and universities to give a sneak peek behind the scenes of refrigeration and air conditioning technology and set the scene for a cool future.

The refrigeration sector: a game changer for the energy transition

Signed by 195 nations, the Paris Agreement symbolises the global fight against climate change. It aims to limit global warming to significantly below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels. Under the Agreement, the nations pledge to make national contributions to climate protection in order to contribute to a common goal. Even the USA, having rejoined the Agreement under President Joe Biden, wants to work with China against climate change.

The European Union has set itself an ambitious yet important target in its Green Deal: it aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050 and make Europe the first climate-neutral continent. This will also require considerable effort on the part of industries – and the refrigeration and air conditioning sector will play a key role. In future, it will rely exclusively on natural refrigerants and so will develop new systems to run on them. As decentralised power stations, heat pumps can generate energy sustainably and with zero CO₂ emissions. ‘The challenges facing refrigeration and air conditioning are great and the professional prospects are positive. Anyone who takes a job in this sector today can make a significant contribution to doing business in a sustainable manner. That goes for all employees, not just the engineers and technicians’, concludes Ulrich Harm, Director Human Resources at BITZER.

For more about World Refrigeration Day, please see www.worldrefrigerationday.org.

BITZER is active all over the world as an independent specialist in refrigeration and air conditioning technology: with products and services for refrigeration, air conditioning, process cooling and transport, BITZER ensures optimum temperature conditions in goods trading, industrial processes and air conditioning – always in the context of maximum energy efficiency and quality. The BITZER Group is represented across the globe through distribution companies and production facilities at 72 locations in 37 countries. The BITZER production, development and sales association, including trading and service partners, operates in nearly every country around the world. In 2020, 3,800 employees generated sales of €808 million; expenditure on research and development was €45 million.

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