Not Just for Sorcerers and Blacksmiths is the Department of Labor blog post authored by Tom Perez, Secretary of Labor.  He writes about his trip to Berlin and London where he learns from workers, employers and government officials about different aspects of apprenticeships in various industries that include healthcare, technology, law, film, dentistry, journalism and financial services.

This week, Secretary Perez travels to Germany and the United Kingdom, to learn from workers, employers and government officials about their effective models for skills training and workforce development. Throughout the week, he shared his personal reflections and observations.

Day 3 and 4: Berlin & London

From Wolfsburg, we travel to Berlin, for a full day of observing apprenticeships in action. The Charité Health Academy is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe, with some 3,700 doctors and scientists teaching, conducting research and administering care. It also trains apprentices to be pediatric nurses, midwives, physiotherapists and more. These apprenticeships are in high demand — 1,000 applications submitted for 120 slots. Seeing Charité’s program gives me optimism that we can do something similar in the U.S. where the health care sector accounts for less than one percent of total apprenticeships. It’s an area where I see vast potential, despite some challenges.  One Charité apprentice, Oskar, told me that the program “shows you that you are up for the challenge and can be a good nurse.”

The Other 4-Year Degree

With Federal Minister of Education and Research Johanna Wanka at the Siemens Vocational Academy in Berlin, I saw how a firm like Siemens invests in its future and in young people through what the Germans call the “dual system.” It’s a model that combines apprenticeships in a company with vocational school curriculum in a course of study. Siemens is one of the world’s largest electrical engineering and electronics companies, with around 362,000 employees worldwide. Its Vocational Training Academy in Berlin-Siemensstadt prepares more than 1,000 apprenticeships in STEM fields every year. It operates its own vocational school for theoretical teaching while giving apprentices on-the-job practical experience.

This training model is ingrained in the culture here at Siemens, which has also been a leader in expanding apprenticeships back home in the U.S., most notably as a member of President Obama’s Advanced Manufacturing Partnership. I’m grateful for their work in this area, but probably not as grateful as some of the apprentices I met today, who are on track for a lifetime of success thanks to the program. They tell me that many of their parents now prefer the dual system as a precursor to college – the practical skills that their sons and daughters learn in this program are indispensable, even if they do choose to go onto higher education after an apprenticeship.

Nearing the end of my stay in Berlin, I joined Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Andrea Nahles at a roundtable co-hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and Hans-Böckler-Stiftung. The discussion brought together members of works councils from a range of German firms on the topic of Germany’s co-determination model, where companies’ elected worker and management representatives are involved in making certain company decisions. We discussed works councils’ shared interest and collaboration in the economic vitality of companies and worker well-being, and how we might be able to apply aspects of this model in the United States.

U.K. Ahead on Leave

Hopped across Western Europe and over the English Channel last night and landed in London, where I met this morning with paid leave and living wage advocates who are building innovative partnerships to increase wages in and around London. The United Kingdom already has a paid leave law – I’ll keep repeating this because it’s so astonishing to me: the U.S. is the only industrialized nation without one – but they keep refining the program to try to make it stronger.

Today’s Apprenticeship

Three more visits with apprenticeship programs today. Since we began ramping up our work on apprenticeships, one of the challenges we’ve faced has to do with mindset. A lot of people hear “apprenticeship” and think: construction worker, electrician or plumber. Those apprenticeship programs remain important, but we need to think bigger. When you see a program like the one at Westminster Kingway College’s Victoria Centre, apprenticeship horizons widen and limits fade away. Westminster offers novel apprenticeships in areas like hospitality, creative media, social media marketing and social services. Only our imaginations hold us back from using apprenticeship to prepare workers for middle-class jobs in these and many more fields.

I also visited Microsoft and a leading IT services firm called TechQuarters, both of which are training apprentices for high-growth tech jobs. At Microsoft, I participated in a roundtable discussion with employers who have signed on with a program called the Trailblazer initiative, which develops national standards and requirements for apprenticeships in a widening range of industries — including law, film, dentistry, journalism and financial services.

These programs are proof that apprentices aren’t just for sorcerers anymore.