The “Integration pre-apprenticeship” pilot programme, launched by the Federal Council, prepares recognized refugees for vocational training.

Integrating refugees into the world of work

Swiss Post’s integration pre-apprenticeship in logistics, a pilot project launched in 2016, is a success. For proof, look no further than Arsema Habte: in 2019, this young woman from Eritrea was the first to complete the subsequent apprenticeship to become an EBA logistics technician (Swiss federal vocational certificate).

In the summer of 2019, at the age of 20, Arsema Habte completed her training as an EBA logistics technician at the Zurich-Mülligen letter center – the first refugee to do so. At the end of 2013, the student from Eritrea was able to join her mother in Switzerland with the help of the Swiss Embassy.

The integration pre-apprenticeship makes it easier to start a career

After a year-long, intensive German course and a motivational semester with the City of Zurich, she applied to Swiss Post, where she then began a one-year integration pre-apprenticeship. “The chance to continue on to an EBA apprenticeship if I did well motivated me greatly,” she says. With hard work and talent, she took advantage of the opportunity, successfully completing the two-year training course at Swiss Post following her pre-apprenticeship. Now, the young Eritrean’s ambitions go further: next on her list is advanced training in logistics with a Swiss Federal VET Diploma. She wants to improve her understanding of the work processes in Swiss Post’s sorting and logistics centers and gain experience in customer contact.

The “Integration pre-apprenticeship” pilot programme, launched by the Federal Council in 2015, prepares recognized refugees and temporarily admitted persons for vocational training. It allows companies to attract motivated apprentices (and later employees) and participants to integrate into the labour market in the longer term and develop their careers. As a pilot company, Swiss Post has offered a total of 34 places for the one-year integration pre-apprenticeship since 2016.

Bachelor’s degree

Studying and gaining valuable practical experience at the same time: this is possible with Swiss Post’s “Practice-integrated Bachelor’s degree (PiBS) as an IT technician” course. Apprentices learn about various aspects of IT at Swiss Post and PostFinance, such as software and network configuration, database design or website development. At the same time, they study two to three days a week at the Swiss Distance University of Applied Sciences. Since 2015, Swiss Post has been offering ten of these apprenticeships each year.