Personal responsibility: Our topic in September

The 13-year-old comes into the kitchen and asks: Can I help uncover the dishes? What sounds like the beginning of a good joke is exactly what happened at our house the other day. The event of the century was preceded by a father-son conversation in which we discussed the big family issues - community, respect, responsibility.

Parenting is letting go in instalments.

We have both learnt a lot in the process: parenting is letting go in instalments. If things go well, the child gradually takes on more responsibility. The less the parents intervene in this process, the more the child learns for life.

For example, that helping out in the household can contribute to a better family climate. The dossier «Personal responsibility» by my colleague Virginia Nolan is about this and how parents can raise their child's awareness of responsibility. I highly recommend it to you.

«Most children want to do something with crafts at some point. Until adults get involved.» I was reminded of this sentence from an advertising campaign by the German umbrella organisation for the skilled trades when I read this headline the other day: «Switzerland is running out of apprentices!»

The text puzzles over why over 17,00 training places (as of July 2022) are unfilled. Is it the poor image of skilled trades? The low wages? The physical labour? The fact is that the younger generation sets completely different standards when choosing an employer than in the past: sustainability, ethics, fairness and a clear separation of work and private life are important to them. Or, as a headhunter recently put it somewhat exaggeratedly: «Young people today have the cheek to want to do a job that they find meaningful.»

In this mixed situation, everyone is challenged: Companies that have to adapt to the new needs of young job seekers, parents and teachers who ideally accompany school leavers with patience and composure.

The situation is most favourable for young career starters: there is a lot of competition for them at the moment. Which brings us to our special issue "What do I want to be?

What should I include in my application portfolio? How do I cut a good figure at a job interview? How do I get a good taster? These are three of the topics covered in our 84-page career choice special. It is being published for the eighth time in a row and is enclosed with this issue. If someone else has already picked it up, you can reorder the magazine at www.fritzundfraenzi.ch/service .

If you read this editorial regularly, you could easily get the impression that we at Fritz+Fränzi can't stop celebrating because of all the good news: six years of rising readership figures, two Q-Awards for the best trade magazine in Switzerland and a European award in 2020.

Rest assured: You never get used to prices. We rub our eyes every time anew and are grateful for so much encouragement. This was also the case recently when the Stiftung Elternsein foundation, publisher of Fritz+Fränzi, won two gold awards: what we were honoured for and how we feel about it.

I hope you enjoy reading this issue and wish you a good time.

Yours sincerely,
Yours, Nik Niethammer