Switzerland finished third at WorldSkills, the global competition for young people in vocational trades, which ended in Shanghai on Sunday. It was the best-performing European country.

Swiss team at WorldSkills 2026

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Swiss team at WorldSkills 2026

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The 42-strong Swiss team won 12 medals: four golds, two silvers and six bronzes and ranked third overall based on the average medal points scored by each national team. Only China and South Korea finished ahead of it – see medal table here. Another 23 Swiss competitors received medals of excellence, awarded for performances that met a high standard but fell short of the podium.

Switzerland’s showing is notable given its size. China has about 1.4bn people and South Korea around 52m; Switzerland has just over 9m. The comparison does not explain the medal table, but it puts the Swiss result in perspective.

Switzerland’s four world titles came in hotel reception, plumbing and heating, heavy-vehicle technology and Industry 4.0, a category involving digitalisation and cyber security. Fina Niebergall won gold in hotel reception, Sandro Amrhein in heavy-vehicle technology and Matthias Steiner in plumbing and heating. Ian Hofer and Cyrill Koller won the Industry 4.0 title. From the French-speaking part of the country, Augustin Mettraux, a 20-year-old from Fontainemelon, in the canton of Neuchâtel, won bronze in joinery. Eliott Vadi, from Carouge, finished fourth in jewellery, having won gold at Switzerland’s national skills championships in 2025. Three competitors from French-speaking Switzerland were in the Swiss delegation.

WorldSkills began in Madrid in 1950, when young apprentices from Spain and Portugal competed at a time when post-war Europe was short of skilled workers. It has since grown into the world’s biggest vocational-skills competition. The 48th edition, held in Shanghai from September 22nd to 27th 2026, brought together about 1,400 competitors from nearly 70 countries and regions. They competed in 64 skills, from joinery and plumbing to cyber security and Industry 4.0, after qualifying through national or regional contests.

Switzerland’s vocational-training system is one of its economic strengths. Around two-thirds of young people enter vocational education after compulsory schooling, usually combining classroom study with paid apprenticeships. Employers help shape the training, which smooths the passage from school to work and supplies firms with skilled labour. Switzerland’s strong showing at WorldSkills fits that picture.

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