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In today’s job market it’s hard to find any well paying job that doesn’t require some level of college education. But should it be that way? In Switzerland apprenticeships serve to put young people into jobs immediately upon entering the workforce.
How many unproductive years of college and even grad school must American students endure before entering the workforce for jobs Swiss youths are doing straight out of high school?
Switzerland is one of the most competitive nations, and home to the world’s most Fortune 500 companies per capita. At the Financial Times, Ralph Atkins explains why the Swiss apprenticeship program works so well:
Switzerland’s long-established apprenticeship system, combining classroom and workplace learning, is widely seen as one of the affluent country’s greatest economic strengths, creating a pool of highly skilled workers for Swiss companies.
The efficiency gains help explain why Switzerland — despite its high costs resulting from a strong franc — regularly tops global economic competitiveness tables; the World Economic Forum this year described its labour market as “the best functioning globally”. Hopes are high that European innovation such as this could create an opportunity for growth as the continent recovers from the financial crisis.
Read more here (subscription required).
Earn While You Learn: Switzerland’s Vocational Education and Training System
Originally posted on Yoursurvivalguy.com.
