Switzerland has concluded agreements with 13 countries outside of the EU, including the United States, so young people can extend their job and language skills in the country.
The countries that qualify include New Zealand, Canada and South Africa. A full list can be found here.External link
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From florist to vehicle locksmith
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At the SwissSkills jobs championships apprentices compete against each other to prove who is the best in their field (SRF, swissinfo.ch).
To qualify as trainees, would-be workers must have concluded vocational training that lasted at least two years, work in the same occupation as their training, and be younger than 35 (30 in some cases). No part-time work or self-employed work is allowed.
Trainees from the EU/EFTA area no longer need a work permit in Switzerland, but staying longer than four months requires a formal registration with the labour market authoritiesExternal link. (In June 2016 the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. It will remain an EU member while negotiations are carried out. After that, it is not clear how Brexit will affect British citizens wanting to live, work and study in Switzerland.)
Permits are generally valid for 18 months. Workers may train under several programmes as long as they do not exceed 18 months combined.
For more information on trainee programmes and a complete list of the countries involved, please see the State Secretariat for Migration website on occupational trainingExternal link.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
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Foreigners wanted to fill Swiss apprenticeship gap
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Young and jobless? The solution isn’t always university
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Switzerland historically has fewer people in higher education than elsewhere in Europe – and more are employed. What do the numbers tell us?
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Small groups of young people in suits and sneakers wind their way around the stands on the first floor of the House of Switzerland, the marketing platform for Switzerland during the Olympics. These adolescent Londoners have come to learn about the Swiss apprenticeship system. “I’m not doing much with my time these days. I want…
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“How long have I got?” shouts an apprentice baker as she squeezes dollops of cream into a mixing bowl. “20 minutes!” comes the reply from a figure in the crowd. The teenager is one of many competing to be crowned the best Swiss apprentice in their field of work at a four-day championship of apprentices,…
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Three days a week, Zwahlen boards the train at 6am to go from his hometown of Münsingen to nearby Thun, where he is in his first month of an apprenticeship programme at Studer AG, the world’s leading manufacturer of round grinding machines used in the auto industry. Zwahlen’s experiences are shared by 74 other apprentices…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.