ICT-SI: Your company currently employs four apprentices, and each year you are committed to training more. A noble goal, given the difficulties many companies have experienced in making internship positions available. So where did the decision to become an apprentice training company come from?
Y.T.: At 4IT Solutions, we believe deeply in the value that young people have within current and future society, and we are committed to supporting them to the fullest in achieving their personal and professional goals. We are well aware that a young person’s choice to pursue this training stems from a genuine passion for the subject. That is why we are happy to offer the opportunity for an apprentice to turn this passion into a job, something that is not to be taken for granted nowadays.
The world of information technology is then one of the most change-prone and constantly evolving sectors. Aspects that enable an apprentice to confront new challenges and stimulating opportunities on a daily basis and to grow a great deal personally and professionally: feeling part of such a dynamic world and being able to contribute to its development gives the apprentice great satisfaction, which is reflected in increased motivation with consequent benefits for the training company as well.
Finally, as companies themselves we simply can no longer afford not to have skilled professionals ready to meet the challenges of digitization. Apprentices are in this a valuable tool, a long-term investment in the future of society and the economy.
ICT-SI: How do you view the current ICT apprentice hiring landscape in Ticino?
Y.T.: There are two aspects to consider. On the one hand, it should be taken into account that technology, unlike up to a few years ago, is an integral part of the lives of young people, who from an early age are in close contact with it. This undoubtedly sets them up for fast learning and facilitates its use. On the other hand, the IT sector is growing and developing rapidly, proving to be very attractive. Together, these two factors drive many young people to want to make technology their educational choice, as it creates a perfect marriage between passion and opportunities for professional and personal growth and development. And for us as companies, having motivated profiles like these is a huge advantage.
What may still be lacking in Ticino is a sensitivity toward apprenticeship training, which in the Canton’s all-Latino mentality is still seen as “second-class” training. This is a stereotype that absolutely must be changed. Especially in the ICT sector, moreover, where everything is evolving much faster, educational content should perhaps be made more streamlined and better able to cover the rapidly changing needs of companies in the sector. This is also as early as compulsory schooling, with school and extracurricular activities that enable pupils and students to get in touch with the world of work and in particular the ICT sector and understand whether it is right for them, before making an educational choice.
ICT-SI: What characteristics and skills does your company look for when hiring an ICT trainee?
Y.T.: For several years now, we have decided to stop putting academic achievement at the forefront, as was the case in the past, in favor of strong motivation and the ability to contextualize oneself and one’s behavior within the world of work and knowing how to adapt accordingly. Therefore, during selections we always try to discuss different issues with candidates to see if technology and innovation are part of their interests, because we know that if they are, their contribution personally and professionally will be significantly greater.
ICT-SI: What challenges does your company face when it comes to hiring ICT apprentices?
Y.T.: Today’s kids are so-called digital natives: born and raised with technology, they have no difficulty dealing with these issues. However, the fact that technology is part of the everyday lives of young people can be seen as a double-edged sword, however: often that it is taken for granted or even underestimated, thinking that they are already able to apply it to the world of work with ease. This dynamic, being more often than not the cause of confusion in young people, leads us to have to delve well into the needs of the apprentice to compare them with our own. In fact, a misalignment would make the 4-year path together more difficult for both parties.
In addition, the world of work is constantly changing: in fact, today the demands of the younger generation of workers are different than in the past. The pandemic of COVID-19 has certainly had a huge impact on the start of their careers, think trivially even of remote work, which, moreover, has already been in vogue in our industries for some time. But more and more new values are also taking over, such as work-life balance, workplace gratification, even better if it allows them to commit to something they believe in. As companies, therefore, the challenge is to make sure that we best understand the needs of this new generation of workers-including everything that motivates them-in order to create the perfect work environment to attract and retain them.
ICT-SI: What role does the ICT Vocational Training Association of Switzerland play in strengthening ICT apprenticeship?
Y.T.:The path ahead is certainly long and complex. You don’t change mindsets overnight. However, it is certainly useful to be able to group together a range of interests and make sure that the needs of training sites in this area can be expressed with one voice. ICT-SI’s work in this regard is therefore very useful, because it gives us access not only to the general public and potential trainees, but also to a higher institutional level, cantonal and even federal. As new members of ICT-SI, we are happy to have joined this organization.
ICT-SI: What advice would you give to companies that are interested in hiring apprentices but are scared off by the potential risks and costs associated with training?
Y.T.: Certainly the main advice is to regard young people as inexhaustible sources of ideas and points of view different from what we are used to. Values that are extremely important, especially in the world of technology where thinking “out of the box” is considered a competitive advantage.
Moreover, it is very important never to associate training with a mere cost as an end in itself, but as a responsibility at the societal level. Allowing a young person to understand the world of work will surely have positive consequences for the apprentice and for society. Finally, the opportunity for the company to be able to count on a figure who was born and raised internally and is already familiar with its mechanisms even after the apprenticeship is over should not be underestimated.
