The Swiss plastics industry is facing two major obstacles; a skills shortage and anonymity within the domestic market. Although the Swiss plastics industry is responsible for 0.5% of the national economy and employs around 30,000 workers, the industry lacks recognition among the Swiss population. The second issue is the skills shortage in the Swiss plastics industry. Currently the industry tries to minimize the skills shortage by recruiting qualified professionals from abroad. The changing demographics further complicate this issue.

The concept for increasing the awareness, interest and number of apprentices in the Swiss plastics industry is based on secondary literature, such as studies and reports. Additionally, short interviews with companies in the industry were conducted.

In order to advance the development of the Swiss plastics industry, the industry and its partners need more qualified personnel. Currently, the industry is facing a skills shortage; in order to reduce the skills shortage, companies are recruiting qualified professionals from abroad. However, there are two possible approaches to reducing skills shortage. The first one, which is used currently, is to recruit qualified professionals from abroad. The second one is to offer vocational training programs domestically. However, since the vocational training programs in the Swiss plastics industry are not well-known, a concept of employer branding is needed to attract potential trainees. In order to ensure a successful outcome to the proposed solution, this paper analyzes studies of the vocational training program system, discusses career prospects of polymer processors and plastics technologists, and uses company interviews conducted by the author. The last part of the paper outlines a concept for increasing the awareness and interest in the vocational training programs created by the author. The last part details a marketing concept and plan for increasing the number of apprentices.