Scherwin Michael Bajka
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Title
M.A.
Last Name
Bajka
First name
Scherwin Michael
Email
scherwinmichael.bajka@unisg.ch
Phone
+41 71 224 2178

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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Publication
    What is broken about the dual VET system (and how it can be fixed)
    ( 2023)
    Anna Margareta Wilson
    ;
    Scherwin Michael Bajka
    Dual vocational education and training (VET) systems are renowned for their strong political support, high level of private-public cooperation, and smooth transitions into the labor market. However, the expanding general education at the upper-secondary level offers employers an alternative avenue of skill provision. Along with shifting educational preferences, the need for higher technical and general skills in some jobs, and the loss of interest for manual, traditionally blue-collar occupations, general education is gaining ground at the expense of vocational training. These trends are likely to engender skill mismatch, as well as skill shortage, problems even in the context of dual VET where such issues historically have been less pertinent. In this paper, we study training firms’ concerns with the dual VET system. We explore factors predicting firms’ worry about imminent skill shortage and how it is connected to dual vocational training and use novel survey data with 2’700 Swiss training firms). We link the survey data to data on local labor markets and institutionalized educational pathways. Our study contributes to the scholarly debate on skill shortage and skills mismatch problems, showing the which problems and solutions that are specific to firms given the type of work they train for.
    Type: conference paper
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/117998
  • Publication
    To train or not to train, that is the question: Swiss firms’ training consideration in a changing skills landscape
    ( 2023-02-03)
    Wilson, Anna Margareta
    ;
    Bajka, Scherwin Michael
    The demands of the labor market are changing rapidly and as a result, skill shortages are becoming more common across various industries. In countries with a collective skill formation system, where vocational education and training (VET) is a well-established part of the education system, firms play a crucial role in providing training and producing skills needed on the labor market. However, providing training and hiring apprentices is costly and demanding for firms, whereas the option of poaching graduates from other firms, or to hire experienced skilled workers may be more attractive. In this paper, we examine which firm types choose to opt out of, or to stay in, VET and what factors contribute to their decision. Using novel survey data from over 2’500 Swiss training firms, we identify the factors associated with likelihood of consider remaining in or leaving VET. We find that hiring difficulty being a strong factor associated with opting out, whereas low hiring selectivity, high retention rates and stronger institutional embeddedness are associated with a consideration to stay. We propose a framework that categorizes firms into four groups that inform our understanding of where the risk of opting out is high: “Selective strugglers”, the “Loyal veterans”, the “VET opportunists” and the “VET flagships”.
    Type: conference paper
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/107762
  • Publication
    Type: conference speech
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/118413