Apprenticeship leaver survey: companies must fulfill their duty of care

70.7% of young people have already found a job after completing their apprenticeship. However, the starting salary and overtime practices of certain companies and the lack of participation in the "Bring Your Own Device" policy and school material costs are still proving to be problematic.

With around 12,500 graduates per year, the commercial apprenticeship is the most popular basic training program in Switzerland. In order to investigate the working conditions during and after the apprenticeship, career entry and the future plans of young professionals, the Swiss Commercial Association has been conducting an annual survey of EBA and EFZ graduates of company-based basic training (BOG) and school-based basic training (SOG) since 2006. In the first wave of the survey in July 2023, 3,879 people took part, i.e. almost a third of all VET graduates in Switzerland. In the second survey wave in November 2023, 1165 people took part.

Positive perception of the KV apprenticeship

"A total of 92.8% of participants confirmed that they feel well to very well prepared for the world of work thanks to their basic commercial training," reports Svenja Albrecht, Education Policy Project Manager, who is responsible for this year's survey. The company is the most popular place of learning with 5.1 out of a total of 6 points. This is followed by school with 4.2 points and inter-company courses (ÜK) with 3.8 points. "This clearly speaks in favor of the company-based part of training and underlines the role of vocational and practical trainers in the company, who pass on the joy of the profession to the next generation."

Successful career start

The KV apprenticeship continues to offer an ideal entry into the professional world: the majority of KV graduates (70.7%) are employed at the time of the second survey wave in November 2023. "That's 4.8 percentage points more than in the previous year," says Albrecht happily. Around 21.0% are in a non-employed situation after their apprenticeship, such as further education, a language course or military service. Only 5.2% are actually looking for a job in November 2023.

Higher wages for commercial career starters

This year's survey once again focused on the wages of young professionals. Although the annual median salary for career starters in 2023 has risen by CHF + 1300 compared to the previous year, almost 20% of apprenticeship graduates still receive a salary that is below the minimum salary recommendations for 2023 of CHF 54,080 from the Swiss Commercial Association. These salary recommendations have been adjusted upwards for 2024 in light of inflation so that apprenticeship graduates can expect fair pay. "Recognition is also about wages, as the current wage rounds show," warns Albrecht. "Young career starters should also be paid fairly for their work. Especially in times of a shortage of skilled workers, when companies are dependent on well-trained staff, apprenticeship graduates can negotiate a good entry-level wage with particular self-confidence." For these reasons, the Swiss Commercial Association is calling for a new minimum wage of CHF 58,500 for young professionals.

Problematic overtime practices

Almost half of the participants state that they have to work overtime every week during their basic training - on average 2 hours per week. Around 10% even report working overtime every day. A further 25.1% state that they would not have been able to complete their work assignments without overtime. Albrecht confirms: "This trend is very worrying. Frequent overtime can have a negative impact on learners' mental health and success." For example, 17.1% of learners state that they occasionally find working overtime challenging and a further 2.8% state that overtime is a heavy burden. In addition, a considerable proportion of apprentices - almost 6% - did not receive any compensation for this, which is not permitted under labor law.

Inadequate BYOD policy and contribution to school material costs

It is particularly sobering to note that over 50% of apprenticeship graduates had to pay for their own devices and bring them to school without any financial support from their companies. This puts apprentices from financially weaker households at a particular disadvantage. "This is problematic on several levels," Albrecht continues. "Young people must not decide against a commercial apprenticeship because they don't have the means to afford a laptop that complies with the BYOD regulations of the vocational school." The position of the Swiss Commercial Association is therefore crystal clear: if a company cannot provide its apprentices with a device, they must bear the cost of purchasing it.

The situation is similar with school material costs: "Companies should not only pay for books or other physical materials, but also support digital learning platforms," says Albrecht. "Unfortunately, 27.6% of respondents stated that their company did not pay for any school materials." For a further 32% of learners, the companies partially covered the costs. Less than half of the companies (40.5%) covered the entire cost of school materials.

Companies must fulfill their duty of care

For the Swiss Commercial Association, there is a great need for action, especially with regard to the new reformed commercial apprenticeship. Apprentices who start their training in summer 2024 will all have to take their final exams under the new BYOD policy. Albrecht appeals: "We call on companies to fulfill their duty of care accordingly: Wages of career starters must be raised and overtime during apprenticeships should be prevented whenever possible. If the latter cannot be avoided, it must be compensated or paid out. The financing of school materials and BYOD devices must be ensured. This is the only way to guarantee that young people from all social backgrounds have a fair chance of completing a commercial apprenticeship." In order to clarify and improve the BYOD situation, the Swiss Commercial Association has written to the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI and asked for a statement.

Source: www.kfmv.ch