Apprentice barometer 2016: convinced of vocational apprenticeships

The 2016 apprentice barometer of the online apprenticeship portal yousti.ch shows: Over 80% of apprentices in Switzerland would complete an apprenticeship again if they had to decide again. In turn, 81% of these apprentices state that they are better equipped for the working world with an apprenticeship qualification than with a university degree.

A total of 4,356 young people responded to Yousty AG's call and took part in the major online survey on apprentice satisfaction in German-speaking Switzerland between May 26 and June 21, 2016. On a scale of 1 to 10 (highest satisfaction), the young people rated their satisfaction with their apprenticeship on average at a high 7.2. Compared with last year's results, satisfaction has risen from a value of 6.9 to a value of 7.2.

Work climate still most important

The most relevant factor for job satisfaction is the working atmosphere with a value of 8.9. This is closely followed by interesting activities for the apprentices (8.6) and treatment as equal employees in the company (8.5). It is also particularly pleasing that the salary (3.1) has only a marginal influence on the choice of occupation and satisfaction. Urs Casty, founder and managing director of Yousty AG, is confident about these results: "Today's apprentices believe in dual vocational training. They choose their apprenticeship because they are interested in the job and not because of the money. This shows: apprenticeships are a real alternative to high school, even for good students."

Frontrunners Bern and Basel-Land

The most satisfied apprentices complete their training in the cantons of Bern (7.2) and Basel-Land (7.2), followed by Basel-Stadt (7.1) and Zug (7.0). Zug has lost 3 places compared to last year, while Bern has made up one place. The canton of Zurich also had to relinquish its third place from last year and has fallen to 5th place.

Banks and life sciences are popular

Banks and insurance companies as well as life sciences (chemistry, biology, physics and pharmaceuticals) form the most satisfied apprentices with a value of 7.6. This is closely followed by the IT, communications and Internet sector (7.5), and the bronze medal this year goes to the electronics sector (7.3), which has seen a strong increase in satisfaction compared to last year.

Need for SMEs to catch up

If satisfaction in the companies is broken down according to the size of the company, it becomes apparent: The more employees a company has, the more satisfied the learners are. The results show that the greater the size of the company, the greater the satisfaction of the learners with their vocational trainers. According to the 2016 Learner Barometer, the following factors in particular have a positive influence on satisfaction: equal treatment as employees, a good working atmosphere and less recurring stressful situations. For Domenica Mauch, project manager at Yousty AG, it is clear: "The pressure on SMEs is great. Nevertheless, they have a duty to provide the best possible support for apprentices during their vocational training. The first two factors for increasing satisfaction can - if not must - also be implemented in small companies. Perhaps we will already see success in the 2017 Learner Barometer by yousty.ch."