Thousands of apprenticeship positions remain unfilled in Switzerland

Companies offered around 87,000 apprenticeship positions starting last summer. Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Many apprenticeship positions in Switzerland were still vacant at the start of the summer training period. Here’s what companies and young people say about the shortfall.

This summer, around 93,000 young people completed compulsory schooling and had to decide what to do next. Many opted for an apprenticeship – Switzerland’s well-established vocational training path. Companies offered around 87,000 apprenticeship positions starting last summer, but demand did not keep pace. By August, when most programmes began, 13% of positions – roughly 11,500 – were still unfilled. As in previous years, this is a high figure.

There are too few electricians in Switzerland. This makes apprenticeship training all the more important. Keystone / Gaetan Bally

“The apprenticeship situation in 2025 shows clear differences between sectors,” say the authors of the “Nahtstellenbarometer 2025External link” (Transition Barometer 2025). The study, carried out by the gfs.bern research institute on behalf of the federal government, surveyed 1,943 young people about their experiences with the apprenticeship market and almost 4,000 companies on recruitment trends.

It found that one in four apprenticeship positions in the construction sector remained unfilled last summer. Despite intensive efforts to promote training opportunities, many construction firms failed to attract enough candidates. The proportion of unfilled positions was also high in the hospitality industry, even though the sector accounts for a relatively small share of the overall apprenticeship market. In agriculture and forestry, the number of available apprenticeships has increased, but filling them has become more difficult.

Apprenticeships in forestry and agriculture are sometimes difficult to fill. Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller

Companies struggling to recruit apprentices cited various reasons for the low numbers. More than half said they had received no applications or that the applications were unsuitable. Over 10% said candidates had withdrawn at short notice.

Some firms criticised the quality of applications, citing weak school grades, spelling errors or a lack of clarity about applicants’ motivation. Around a third of companies reported a poor match between applicants’ skills and job requirements.

Young people, on the other hand, have a much more positive view of the application process. Almost 90% of those questioned rated it as positive. On average, there were fewer rejections of applications than in previous years, said the report. The biggest hurdle was writing the application documents and finding a suitable apprenticeship. Almost a quarter of young adults received numerous rejections.

“The responses from companies and young people show that expectations and skills diverge,” says gfs.bern. Bridging this gap between company requirements and young people’s competences is crucial for improving Switzerland’s apprenticeship system, say the authors.

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Translated from German/amva/sb