20.11.2025

Pfeifer optimises training in Lauterbach

At its Lauterbach site, the timber company Pfeifer offers a wide range of apprenticeships – from woodworking mechanic to warehouse clerk. With the appointment of a dedicated training manager, the department has been strengthened and strategically further developed. A modern training workshop is to be built as part of the next renovation. Future woodworking mechanics (m/f/d) work directly with wood as their core material.

Florian Kuntscher has been training manager in Lauterbach since December 2024 and has also been responsible for the training department in Schlitz since May 2025. At both locations in Hesse, the 33-year-old coordinates the development, organisation and strategic advancement of training, including the planned training workshop in Lauterbach.

Training manager Florian Kuntscher supports the trainees both professionally and personally.

‘I want to get young people excited about the timber industry, support them both professionally and personally, and create structures that enable sustainable and future-oriented training,’ explains Kuntscher.

While the practical training takes place in the respective departments, Kuntscher coordinates the training across the board, supervises the trainees and works closely with schools and external partners. School interns also gain valuable insights into working life.

Training workshop in planning

In order to offer trainees optimal learning conditions, Pfeifer in Lauterbach is planning to set up a modern training workshop – as part of the overall refurbishment of the maintenance department. The spatial design has already been completed: covering around 120 m² on two floors, the lower level will serve as a workshop for metal and electrical work, while the upper floor will comprise a training room, break area and office for the training manager. In future, the training workshop will focus on the practical teaching of technical content: in addition to traditional training formats, digital simulation programmes will also be used.

A range of future-proof apprenticeships is available, including industrial mechanic/fitter, electronics technician for industrial engineering and woodworking mechanic.

Female trainees welcome

With this step, Pfeifer is emphasising that the training programme is open to all young people interested in technology. The wood industry also offers promising opportunities for young women, as Pfeifer demonstrates at the annual nationwide ‘Girls' Day’ event. This gives girls the opportunity to learn about the work at the plant and discover new career opportunities.

The first female apprentice in production is set to start in Lauterbach in 2026. “She will be completing an apprenticeship as a woodworking mechanic. In her training and day-to-day work, this includes operating machinery, monitoring control screens, identifying and resolving faults, wood classification and quality control,” explains Kuntscher.

Many trainees remain with the company after completing their training and take on positions of responsibility in production and maintenance. This opens up opportunities for committed young talent.

The wood industry also offers promising career opportunities for young women.

Applications for 2026

Interested young people from the region can already apply for training places for 2026. They can choose from training courses to become machine and plant operators, warehouse clerks, warehouse logistics specialists, industrial mechanics (fitters), electronics technicians for industrial engineering or woodworking mechanics (all m/f/d). In addition to traditional training, Pfeifer offers tailor-made trainee programmes and a dual study programme – ideal for high school graduates who want to combine theory and practice in the wood industry.

Pfeifer also offers young people attractive career opportunities in administration.

About the Lauterbach site

The Pfeifer Group's flagship plant in Lauterbach, which was completely rebuilt in 2008/2009, is one of the most modern in Europe. It produces 620,000 m3 of sawn timber, 230,000 m3 of pallet blocks, 75,000 tonnes of pellets and 80 million kWh of green electricity annually. With 250 employees in Lauterbach and a further 80 at the nearby cross-laminated timber plant in Schlitz, Pfeifer is one of the most important employers in the Vogelsberg district.

The Lauterbach plant is one of the most modern in Europe. Here, round timber is processed along the entire value chain.

About the Pfeifer Group

Pfeifer Holding GmbH was founded in Austria in 1948 and is now a family-owned company in its third generation. The management board consists of CEO Michael Pfeifer, CTO Clemens Pfeifer and CFO Günther Binder. Headquartered in the Tyrolean town of Imst (Austria), the company employs around 2,600 people at 13 sites in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and Finland, making it one of Europe’s leading timber industry enterprises. In its fully integrated sawmills, around 5.4 million solid cubic metres of timber are processed each year along the entire value chain into sustainable products such as sawn and planed timber, concrete formwork panels, formwork beams, cross-laminated timber (CLT), glue-laminated timber (glulam), glued solid wood panels, pallet blocks, briquettes, pellets and green electricity. At its Uelzen site, Pfeifer is also promoting the material recycling of wood resources through waste wood recycling.