News 
The «Grand prix for Occupational Training» prize awarded by the Hans Huber Foundation went to the Swatch Group this year. This choice was justified by the remarkable quality of the training provided for young professionals, a success factor for the enterprise which will shape the future of the entire watch industry. Endowed with 20,000 francs, the prize was awarded on 4 November to the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz FHNW (University of Applied Sciences of North West Switzerland) in Windisch.
Swatch Group is the biggest trainer in the watchmaking industry and its CEO, Nick Hayek, constantly stresses the strategic importance of apprenticeships within the group member companies. Here, apprenticeship enjoys equal treatment with any other educational course when appointments are made to executive posts. The group management is a good example: more than half its members have passed through the apprenticeship stage. The Hans Huber Foundation and the Swiss Venture Club, via the «Grand prix for Occupational Training» aim to honour this commitment and this proximity with the next professional generation because the Swatch Group has been committed for many years in an exemplary and sustainable manner to the training of a qualified workforce to achieve excellence.
The watch industry has an imperative need for highly qualified personnel and other branches of the economy likewise benefit. Although many aspects of watch production can be fully automated nowadays following successful restructuring and the valuable introduction of industrial processes, the problem experienced today is to recruit enough qualified personnel who have benefited from good professional training in the fields of automatic mechanisms, electronics and micro-mechanical technology, to say nothing of technicians with a wide range of mechanical knowledge. This policy of quality training which is also adopted for adults pays dividends: it enables the company to step up its productivity while achieving loyalty of personnel, 70% of whom remain with the company on completion of their apprenticeship, so providing a solid base for production in Switzerland. In exchange, Swatch Group offers secure employment as a key to stability.
November 06, 2014