This paper summarizes a conference on the development of midlevel technical personnel in Germany and France. The proceedings of the conference were divided into five presentations: (1) an introduction to the subject of the project and the conference; (2) a comparative presentation of the origins and development of educational training routes in Germany and France leading to technician positions and the use of these routes by company personnel policy for internal promotion or direct access; (3) explanations of the very different developments in Germany and France; (4) the illustration of these national differences using the examples of new midlevel career routes studied in two German and two French enterprises in the chemical sector; and (5) the expression of a number of basic concepts and methods derived from the Franco-German comparison. (KC)