«Dfrom craftsmanship to cutting-edge technology, all the skills are necessary for the manufacture of a watch ». The phrase, in French, stands out on one of the pages of the website of the patronal Convention de industrie horlogère suisse, the organization of Swiss companies in the sector that deals with representing them in relations with trade unions, in the chapters on health and safety at work, on field of vocational training. This is a terrain that has always been decisive in the sector but which over time has taken on new forms from time to time, with the craftsmanship skills that remain, but which of course are now flanked by an increasingly articulated presence of technologies. .
The patronal convention does not intend to take the foot off the accelerator as regards training: the phrase quoted is in fact aimed at young people to be attracted and is part of the organization’s campaign in favor of training schools. In truth, there is basic satisfaction in the world of the Swiss watch industry about the functioning of training mechanisms. But it is better not to rest on our laurels, they say at the patronal convention, which is based in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The flame of interest in the watchmaking professions must be kept alight, especially in a Switzerland that has always found one of its flagships in this sector. We must move forward, update ourselves – every five years the Convention makes its contribution to the revision of the training structure – and continue to guarantee the flows of qualified workforce. In Switzerland there are three training channels in the sector, in a framework in which both the public and the private sector are active and in which theoretical learning often alternates with practice in a company. The main channel remains that of professional watchmaking schools, then there are training centers within companies and training courses for adults organized by sector associations. There are six watchmaking schools and they are all located in the Jura arc, the Swiss geographical area that has the Jura mountain range as a link and which is between Geneva in the south and Basel in the north. This is the area in which the Red Cross watch industry has historically developed most, mainly in French-speaking cantons but also in some German-speaking ones. The schools are located in the bilingual Biel / Bienne (which is also the seat of the other organization of companies in the sector, the Fédération de industrie horlogère suisse), in Geneva, in Le Locle, in Le Sentier, in Porrentruy, in Grenchen.
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Among the initiatives promoted by associations, there is the watchmaking training center in Giubiasco, near Bellinzona, in the Canton of Ticino. The Center was born in 2017 and was promoted by the Ticino Association of Watchmaking Industries, with a contribution also from the canton. The Center is in its own way a confirmation of the fact that the Italian-speaking branch of Switzerland participates for its part in the fabric of the timepiece industry, above all through the production of components, and that therefore also in Ticino there is a need to have a headquarters training at your fingertips. The latest data available on the number of employees in the Swiss watch industry are those provided last January by the same patronal convention, relative to the end of September 2020. The total number was 57,750, down by 2.6% compared to twelve months earlier. Considering the impact of the first wave of coronavirus, a contained decline.
Pending the updated employment figures this year, the fact remains that the sector will remain relevant for Switzerland in many respects. And that both public and private hands will inevitably continue to focus strongly on professional training in the world of Swiss timepieces.