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Was wondering and discussing with somebody yesterday why USA does not have a strong apprenticeship culture like Europe does.
Hard to have apprenticeships when you're dependent on your employer for health care
Since Sputnik everyone was told to go to college or you're a loser, that peaked in the 2010s and finally busted with Covid, people are just laying flat. Kids put in tons of work, all of the opportunities never materialized.

Its a Structural employment mismatch. We got a preview in 2008 with all the layoffs that became the event that pushed people out of the workforce for the rest of their lives. And there is no retraining programs, because leadership doesn't care. K-type recovery is fine for them

Stem and service jobs could have easily been filled, but leadership would rather ship those overseas.

Maybe sometimes they stay in the family? Like if the father is in a relatively special trade then the son continues when the father retires? Or is it a myth?
AFAIK students are routed into apprenticeship programs quite early in Germany and some other European countries, early enough that American sensibilities find the idea off-putting.

The idea that your future career outlook is basically determined by the time you’re a young teenager is seen as unnecessarily limiting.

In practice there are plenty of apprenticeships for the trades, but they start in high school or later and are functionally socially invisible to people that go to college. Probably because there is more economic segregation in the US than in most European cities.

Interesting, I've been considering going the other direction, finances permitting, and having an artist-in-residence or student artist visit my ceramic studio for a few weeks or months in the summer. I feel like it's uncommon to be given access to a reasonable studio, materials, room and board, and a stipend.
This looks awesome. I’m the ideal customer for this and am delighted it exists.