EEI is building a new Training Center that will offer various construction-related sessions and skills designed to provide manpower upskilling for the firm’s upcoming domestic and overseas projects.

The facility is set to accommodate up to 500 trainees at any given time and offer trainings for various types of welding at different skill levels such as plate, pipe, tube, exotic material and mechanized welding as well as trainings for skills related to electro-mechanical and light industries such as those for structural fitters and steel workers, mechanical and pipe fitters, building and industrial electricians, sand blasters and painters, scaffolders, insulators and tinsmiths, riggers, crane operators and more.

Trainings for building and infrastructure related sessions for mason, carpenter, rebar man, building painter and sealant applicator as well as for MEPF (mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection) manpower will also be offered.

In addition to construction-related skills training, the facility will also offer training sessions for engineers and staff of EEI Corporation on Supervisory Development Program (SDP), Engineering Development Crash Course (EDCC), and Construction Project Management for Project Manager and Directors (CPM) to provide or improve their supervisorial or managerial skills.

The EEI Training Center is expected to be completed in December 2024. Located in Tanza, Cavite, the new center will consist of a two-storey building for classroom sessions; welding booth and PWHT (Post Weld Heat Treatment) workshop; rebar, carpentry, mason and scaffolding workshop; plumbing, painting and SMPEI (structural mechanical piping electrical instrumentation) workshop; welding office and warehouse; cutting and beveling area; an indoor recreation facility; an office building for the staff; single layer barracks for trainees; and pipe rack, pipe sleeper, tankage and boiler modular structures.

The decision to build the facility is part of the company’s recovery plans from the effects brought about by the pandemic.

“To deal with the issues and challenges, we evaluated our operations, identified and addressed weak points, restructured and continued upskilling our workforce, and strengthened our stakeholder relations. EEI is committed to physically and figuratively build foundations for an inclusive and better tomorrow for our stakeholders—not just for our clients but also for our very own employees,” Henry D. Antonio, EEI Corporation President and CEO, says.

Around 20% of the manpower requirement, estimated to be at 500 people, will be initially trained in various disciplines at the EEI Training Center. The facility is envisioned to produce a sustainable supply of EEI’s workforce for its numerous construction projects. The EEI Training Center is vital to the strategic workforce planning across the business.

In line with the establishment of a new training facility, EEI recently signed an agreement with Dual Tech, a private Technical Vocational Institution (TVI) in the Philippines with 40 years of industry experience, to offer and incorporate a Values to Virtues (V2V) Workshop in the EEI Training Modules. EEI conceptualized the inclusion of values formation training in the workplace for both the craft workers and the professional staff. Dr. Zenon Arthur Udani, Life and Leadership Coach from Tech Duo and Dual Tech Center, has been tapped to conduct the values formation training.

The first batch of participants of the V2V Workshop starting this July will be coming from EEI supervisors and managers. Part of the workshop is the creation of a team of mentors and coaches to serve as support system of the participants, ensuring the application of the learning in the workplace.

“Values are meant to reflect what is important to us in life. In the workplace, our values represent how we behave with our fellow workers and the Company in general. This will help the workforce to examine if they have any concern with colleagues, to correct wrongdoings, to show support for a fellow team member in success and failure and many other things that actually matter. We believe that values formation is a very important element for the company’s improved and better performance in all aspects. These are some of the fundamental matters that the Values to Virtues (V2V) Workshop is envisioned to develop for the well-being of our employees,” the CEO adds.

In addition to the upcoming training facility and workshop, EEI has an ongoing Apprenticeship Program partnered with Dual Tech as well, using the “Dual Training System (DTS)”. The Apprenticeship Program is a two-year-course on electromechanics technology program which is currently being conducted in EEI’s Tanza Yard in Cavite. The scope of the apprenticeship is a multi-discipline wok on automotive and equipment servicing, electronics and electrical product assembly servicing, machining services, automotive body painting services and shielded metal arc welding.