27.1. Introduction

Apprenticeships are now becoming an essential path to employability for students, a commitment assumed by the public authorities in France for the employment of young people and also for the competitiveness of companies.

However, there is a difficulty in reconciling certain strategic choices made by companies in terms of flexibility and apprentices’ expectations. Job quality makes sense here. It is about integrating and considering apprentices into the company through the development and use of skills, recognition, caring, autonomy, coaching and mentoring for career development.

Apprenticeships in higher education have expanded over the past decade or so. Higher education apprentices represent about 36% of the apprenticeship contracts signed in 2015–2016 (Department of assessment and forecasting 2017). This trend is confirmed by the evolution of levels III (Brevet de technicien supérieur, Diplôme universal), I and II (diploma equal to or greater than Bac +3), which increased by 3.8% in 2015 in comparison to 2014 (+2.7% for BTS and other diplomas at the same level and +5% for diplomas at a level higher than Bac +2), while the trend is downward in the other categories: -1.6% at level V (CAP) and – 3.1% at level IV (vocational bac and professional certificate).

This trend, which is generally favorable to the development of higher education, should not overshadow the difficulty of some companies in fully exploiting the potential of apprentices. The latter do not always feel that their value is considered fairly, but more as a simple adjustment factor in the face of corporate constraints. Indeed, apprentices tend to adjust their commitment and organizational attachment (Pennaforte 2012). This issue has mobilized work that has produced some leads, particularly through action on the relationship between the company and the apprentice (Pennaforte 2012), improving satisfaction through the work climate, organizational support (Alves et al. 2010), mentoring (Abonneau and Campoy 2014), integration and socialization (Lené 2017). Recent research shows a particular interest in the concept of job quality (Ben Yedder and Peretti 2009; Erhel and Guergoat-Larivière 2016; Bryson et al. 2017). In addition to pay conditions, job quality advocates focus on working conditions, the relationship between employees and their employers, skills development conditions, autonomy at work, the work–life balance and job security. These aspects are essential criteria for informing us about how to meet apprentices’ expectations and their motivations to stay or leave a given company after an apprenticeship. What is job quality? How can it be applied to apprentices? What is the role of the company’s strategy? What lessons can be learned for the development of higher education apprenticeships?

27.2. Job quality: a multidimensional concept

The quality of employment has been the subject of debate in recent years, due in particular to issues of Quality of Life at Work, working conditions for employees and intensification of work for better productivity (Askenazy and Erhel 2017). If job quality has been measured by wages or job satisfaction in a one-dimensional approach, this restrictive measure is questioned by advocates of a multidimensional approach, better adapted to the reality of work today (Davoine 2007; Bryson et al. 2017).

27.3. Job quality: a real expectation of apprentices

The different dimensions of job quality identified in the literature concern permanent employees (Erhel and Guergoat-Lariviere 2016; Bryson et al. 2017) and full-time students (Ben Yedder and Peretti 2009). Some of them are decisive for apprentices; they are the development and use of skills at the workplace, the relationship with the hierarchy, support and autonomy and job security.

Development and use of skills: apprentices mention that the job they do must be rich, appropriate to their skills and learning because it conditions their employability.

Relationship to the hierarchy: apprentices are looking for exchanges, for a “participative” model, which for them is an integral part of job quality.

Apprentices also value the concepts of coaching, mentoring, recognition and caring.

Autonomy at work: autonomy in the job, a difficult balance between framing assignments and a laisser-faire attitude, is one of the key factors for apprentices.

Job security: apprentices claim that the dimensions directly affecting the assignment, the content of the work, the conditions under which it is carried out and the avenues for post-apprenticeship development take precedence over job security/insecurity. The level of education, the experience of an apprenticeship in a company and the favorable labor market situation for this population are some possible explanations.

27.4. Quality of employment: which strategic choices do companies make?

The behavior of companies with regard to job quality is not homogeneous and depends on their learning strategy. It would seem that job quality is not the first option for companies focused on flexibility, but rather the choice of companies engaged in human capital investment (Brébion 2017). The literature on strategic human resources management supports this because it tells us that there are two competing strategies in this area. This is first and foremost the human resources control strategy (Arthur 1994), which remains focused on employee costs. Such a strategy directs the choice towards the search for flexibility gains by hiring apprentices instead of long contracts. These gains are related to wage and dismissal costs, which are low in the case of apprentices.

The first case, that of a subsidiary of a financial group specializing in consumer credit, seems to illustrate this strategy. His career and development manager tells us that there is no real apprenticeship development strategy. In this company, an apprenticeship consists of recruiting a significant number of apprentices to assist permanent employees and perform some of their tasks in support of the surplus activity. As a result, permanent contract recruitment is lower than recruitment of apprentices, who represent a cheap labor force, from which they can be easily separated and sometimes under-exploited. This flexibility option is also reflected in the transformation of work-study contracts into permanent contracts, which remains low.

Nevertheless, the use of apprentices to cover operational needs is regretted by the company’s development and career manager. The latter wants needs to be business-oriented in order to ensure the future in terms of the skills required by changes in activity. It calls for a real strategy for work-based students in connection with skills management in the company.

The second strategy reflects the wishes of the company’s managers. It is reflected in the mobilization or involvement of human resources (Arthur 1994). This strategy is in line with the company’s desire to invest in its human capital to improve its competitiveness. The aim here is to consider apprentices as valuable contributors of value and not only as a cost to be minimized. In this case, the companies ensure the quality of employment of all its employees, including apprentices, in order to better face current and future challenges.

To implement this strategy, the human resources department of an international group specializing in furniture and decoration (GISAD) conducted a reflection exercise on the place of an apprenticeship in the HR strategy and has implemented a set of actions integrated into its job and skills planning policy (GPEC).

27.5. Conclusion

Learning from a superior is a reality and an opportunity for companies today. Its development must also meet the various expectations of apprentices who aim for a better quality of employment. However, not all companies adopt the same strategies for apprentices: a cost for some and an investment for others. It appears that the quality of apprentices’ employment is a decisive strategic choice for companies that value the human capital of apprentices. This strategy has had a positive impact both in terms of brand image and attractiveness for one of the companies in our study. It is therefore a question of job quality when attracting and retaining talented apprentices.