Congratulations! SwissSkills Team Receives 20 Medals at WorldSkills

From 15 until 18 October, the WorldSkills world championship of vocational skills took place in Abu Dhabi. Approximately 1,300 young professionals from 58 countries and 51 occupations took part. The SwissSkills team, a delegation of 38 young Swiss citizens, represented 36 occupations in Abu Dhabi and won eleven gold, six silver, and three bronze medals in the process. This made Switzerland the best European country in the international ranking by far, earning second place behind China.

The Swiss have never before celebrated so many vocational world champion titles at a world championship. The Swiss team secured the world champion title in over a fifth of the occupations. More than half of the young Swiss professionals took home a medal and over 90% of the delegation received at least one certificate. Beat Schranz, world champion for Electrical Installations, won the Best of Nation title thanks to his top score. He was modest in his interview: “On the first day, things didn’t go well for me, so I never expected to win the gold medal. It’s unbelievable and I still can’t really believe it at all.”

But the historic success of the SwissSkills team should not be taken for granted. Many countries prepare their young professionals very specifically for the demands of WorldSkills over a number of years. However, the Swiss participants all completed “normal” Swiss vocational training, successfully took part in Swiss championships, and only prepared themselves specially for WorldSkills during the last few months, mostly in their free time. Therefore, the national team that competed in Abu Dhabi was the best possible advertisement for Switzerland as a business location and for the Swiss vocational education system.

UBS as a proud Presenting Partner

As a Presenting Partner, UBS supported the members of the SwissSkills team as they prepared for WorldSkills. In addition, every participant is awarded prize money in an amount dependent on the result achieved. Lukas Gähwiler, Chairman of the Board of Directors of UBS Switzerland AG, had only words of praise for the young professionals: “I am extremely pleased with the excellent performance of the SwissSkills team. The participants worked hard for their success and are wonderful role models for all young people who are choosing professions. The SwissSkills teams is the best evidence that our educational system is amongst the best in the world and strengthens Switzerland as a business location in the long term. We will continue to work vigorously for vocational education.”

Celebrating with the Swiss Federal Council

The SwissSkills team returned to Switzerland on Saturday, October 21, and was welcomed into the Messe Zürich exhibition center by about 1,000 fans with banners, Swiss flags, the sound of cow bells, and thundering applause. After a greeting from Daniel Fischer, UBS Head of Marketing for Switzerland, Federal Councilor Johann Schneider-Ammann personally congratulated all the young professionals on their great success. In an interview, the Federal Councilor emphasized that he was “extremely proud of this team” and stated, “This success is a reward for a lot of effort – a boost to motivation for the future that couldn’t be better.”