Today, the burden of educating the newest members of the workforce falls directly on our schools. But businesses are having difficulty finding employees with the appropriate competencies to effectively fill skilled positions. Modern youth apprenticeship addresses the problem by helping businesses have a hand in shaping their young talent and providing the education system with an applied-learning environment for its students.
Youth apprenticeship isn’t about corporate philanthropy—it’s about developing a talent pipeline.
We are lucky to be learning from our colleagues in Colorado and their application of Switzerland’s best practices. CareerWise looks to the Swiss apprenticeship system for inspiration and has borrowed elements of that model to adapt in Colorado, New York City, Elkhart County, Indiana, and Washington DC. In Switzerland, there are more than 230 approved apprenticeship occupations, and 40 percent of all companies participate in the program. In that environment, 70 percent of Swiss students choose apprenticeships and 30 percent of them stay with their training company or return after college. In fact, many of the world’s largest companies are run by CEOs that started out as an apprentice. It’s that kind of endless possibility we’re building in DC with CareerWise—apprentices that start in high school and end with college or career success.
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