Swiss Cable Car Industry Invited Young People Between Ages Of 12 & 25 To Take A Look Behind The Scenes

The Swiss cable car industry invited young people between the ages of 12 and 25 across Switzerland to take a look behind the scenes for the first time. One goal of the Switzerland-wide campaign for young talent was to get participants excited about apprenticeships in the cable car industry.

After months of preparation with the newly created website alpinetechheroes.ch, appearances at career fairs, countless posts on social media, advertising with posters and flyers in schools, at career information centers, on screens in post buses and local buses as well as news portals, it was on Monday, April 18th March 2024 finally happened: the first of two nationwide trial days “Call of Heroes” was held in around 50 cable car companies.

First-time implementation of a youth campaign in the cable car industry

As part of the “Alpine Tech Heroes” youth campaign, the cable car industry has set itself the goal of not only making the EFZ and EBA cable car mechatronics apprenticeships better known, but also getting young people interested in the training for the first time in a coordinated, national campaign. On March 18 and 22, 2024, cable car companies and cable car-related businesses in eight regions opened their doors and gave over 150 young people a look behind the scenes.

Despite the bad weather conditions on March 18, 2024, the young people were undeterred and listened intently to the explanations from learners their age or the cable car specialists, who introduced them to the world of cable cars. The events were partly accompanied by employees of Cable Cars Switzerland (SBS) and the “Rocket” agency, which was commissioned to successfully implement the campaign. Parents or accompanying persons were often present at the “Call of Heroes” and were at least as fascinated as the young people.

The learners and the cable car specialists shared stories and anecdotes from their daily work with a lot of passion, whether it was the meticulous planning of maintenance work or an unexpected power outage. Depending on the possibility and the company, the young people were able to test their head for heights, go abseiling or test their skills in the workshop under supervision. Some of the young people were so enthusiastic that they even wanted to visit different companies on both trial days.

Lively interest from the media

In addition to the young people and their companions, the cable car industry's youth campaign also received media attention. In the run-up to the “Call of Heroes” taster days, attention was drawn to the campaign thanks to articles in the SRF Tagesschau and in regional media such as the Luzerner Zeitung, the Walliser Bote, the Jungfrauzeitung, the Engadiner Post and the Radio SRF1 Regionaljournal. During the trial days there were also articles in 24heures, on Telebärn, in the Davoser Zeitung and in many other media.

Analysis of the campaign and further action

After successful implementation, the campaign now moves into the feedback and evaluation phase. Which communication measures were the most effective? Where are there opportunities for optimization with regard to the campaign, the organization and implementation of the events? But also: How many young people who took part in the events can actually imagine working in our industry? How many additional apprenticeships does the industry now have to make available?

The association would like to thank all regional associations and companies who actively participated. Thanks to their ideas, feedback, coordination in the regions and organization of the “Call of Heroes” trial days on site as well as the implementation, many young people were able to go home with beaming eyes. Without this commitment, the implementation of the cable car industry's first nationwide youth campaign would not have been possible. At this point we would like to say a big thank you!