Apprenticeship in crafts confirms its effectiveness and arouses more and more vocations among young people

Apprenticeship is experiencing a resurgence in France, particularly in the 137 CFAs of the CMA network, which train 110 apprentices each year. The craft trades are considered as paths of the future by the younger generations but also by adults in retraining.

64% of 16-29 year olds choose their orientation according to their desires and vocations

Since the last school year, the CMA network has recorded +9,5% of apprentices welcomed in the 137 training centers of the CMA network. This enthusiasm is confirmed by the study carried out which reveals that 88% of young people see the craft trades as jobs with a future and which make people happy, which constitutes a real opportunity for the sustainability of the sector. They choose their orientation (training, profession, sector) according to their desires, but also according to meaning (42%), balance with personal life (26%) and the assurance of always finding a job. (21%).

Finally, there is a renewal of the profiles of apprentices in the craft trades since 22% are young secondary and university graduates in retraining. Indeed, according to the study, nearly 65% ​​of young working people and students have already regretted their choice of orientation. This movement of transformation has also materialized since the beginning of the health crisis through the choice of women and men, young workers, employees, executives or managers who dare to take the plunge and convert to crafts.

For Joël Fourny, President of CMA France: “Apprenticeship is the best way to fight unemployment and is a major lever for a sustainable recovery of our economy. If until then we had rather tended to think that only young people on apprenticeship contracts benefited from the royal road to fit into a craft business; today we are witnessing an increase in training requests for adults in retraining, with 1 out of 3 craft business creators coming from another professional universe and 10% who are executives in retraining”.

Apprenticeship is one of the solutions to address recruitment issues

The gradual resumption of activity has led to difficulties. Thus, many professions (roofers, masons, butchers, etc.) are still in tension. To cope with the lack of manpower and not put a brake on recovery, apprenticeship is now a pillar of recovery: a real professional opportunity and insurance against youth unemployment.

Since the restart of the activity, despite the 5th wave of COVID, 1⁄4 of craft businesses say they are ready to welcome one or more apprentices. Apprenticeship is one of the responses to recruitment issues. 80% of apprentices trained in the CFAs find a job within 7 months of graduating.

Double challenge for the CMA network: continuing to offer a demanding level of training and changing young people's perceptions of craft trades

If the trades and the professional prospects they offer are known by 60% of 16-29 year olds, they are still mainly associated with manual trades (89%) and for which excellence is essential (70% ) .

Choosing craftsmanship means striving to integrate and pass on all the demanding know-how and technical skills. Apprenticeship facilitates this transition into professional life for 90% of young people because it allows them to acquire maturity and become financially independent (89%). It also and above all allows for faster and more successful professional integration.

This is the whole point of this Craft Apprenticeship Week organized by the CMA network, which takes place from January 28 to February 4, 2022: to introduce as many people as possible to the training courses and opportunities offered by the apprenticeship training in the crafts, and embark on the adventure to become an actor in his professional life.