In contrast to many European countries, where VET has been in decline over the last 20 years, Switzerland retains its leading position with the highest proportion of dual VET in Europe (Markowitsch 2021; Kriesi et al. 2022). The Swiss system is characterised by its collective structure, in which companies, intermediary organisations and the state work together (Busemeyer & Trampusch 2012). Around two-thirds of young people choose one of some 250 occupations within VET, whereby the occupational principle aims to train not only for current company needs but also for future requirements (Clarke et al. 2011; Euler 2013).

From a sociological perspective, occupations are considered as institutions (Lawrence 2004; Abraham & Hinz 2008; Scott 2008), which need to be maintained or changed through ‘institutional work’ (Lawrence & Suddaby 2006). This concept assumes that institutions have to be created, maintained or dissolved in a targeted and active manner (Lawrence & Suddaby 2006) and asks how human action produces institutions (Hwang & Colyvas 2011). It focuses on the knowledgeable, creative, practical, and everyday work of individuals and collective actors and aims to understand their role in processes of institutional change.

In Switzerland, this work is carried out by a partnership between the federal government, the cantons, and occupational organisations (Berner 2013; Berset 2024). The occupational organisations play a central role in determining training content and creating apprenticeships (Strebel et al. 2019; Baumeler et al. 2018). The national recognition of the occupations ensures that acquired skills can be used throughout the entire labour market (Pusterla et al. 2023). However, collaborative negotiation processes are considered to be time-consuming and slow (Culpepper & Thelen 2008; Strebel et al. 2021b) and are sometimes described as difficult and ‘highly complex’ (Berner 2013, 37).

The development of occupations is significantly influenced by socio-economic change. The key drivers are digitalisation, climate change and the structural change towards a service economy (Pusterla et al. 2023; Cedefop 2021). These changes mean that occupations gain or lose importance, have to adapt or are newly created (Aepli et al. 2017; Trede & Lüthi 2018).

The maintenance of the VET system depends on its ability to adapt to these changes. Despite the importance of occupational development – understood as the process of the emergence, change and dissolution of occupations (Pusterla et al. 2023) – it has so far been little empirically studied in Switzerland. In particular, research is needed on the actions of the actors involved, on the processes of occupational development and on the success factors (Weiβ 2022).

The proposed research project therefore seeks answers to the overarching question of how occupations are adapted to socio-economic change. The following sub-questions are formulated:

1) Why are occupations revised or new ones created?

2) How are the lines of conflict and negotiation processes shaped by the actors involved in institutional work on occupations?

3) What differences and similarities can be identified in the development of occupations?

4) What factors contribute to the success of occupational development processes?

Since branches and occupations are affected differently by socio-economic change (Pusterla et al. 2023), we are interested in the variation in occupational development. We study the processes of adaptation of existing occupations and creation of new ones by using the theoretical framework of institutional work and applying a mixed-method design. The study employs a two-phase qualitative research approach focusing on occupational development through two case studies. First, we aim at reconstructing occupational developments and, second, to identify patterns in institutional work through comparative case analysis. We select two cases of recent occupational development processes: bicycle mechanics and system gastronomists. The data collection relies on multiple sources, following Harrison et al.'s (2017) approach to descriptive case studies. The primary method consists of semi-structured face-to-face expert interviews (Bogner et al., 2014) with individuals who have direct experience with the occupational development processes. Experts are defined according to Gläser & Laudel (2004) as people with specific knowledge about the subject matter. The study supplements interview data with document analysis, examining both public documents (educational plans, ordinances, websites, press articles) and private documents (internal reports, meeting minutes) to reconstruct processes and identify institutional work from the perspective of occupational associations. For data analysis, the interviews are fully transcribed and thematically coded. The coding process is iterative (Roulston, 2014), using sensitizing concepts from institutional work literature while remaining open to emerging categories (Kelle & Kluge, 2010). The initial analysis uses broad categories based on existing research as sensitizing concepts (Patton, 2015), followed by bottom-up development of subcategories. The analysis focuses on several key dimensions: reasons for occupational development, conflict lines with internal and external stakeholders, potential goal shifts, negotiation processes and their outcomes, and the evaluation of successful and unsuccessful aspects. The research examines institutional work across regulatory, normative, and cultural-cognitive dimensions. The comparative analysis contrasts the two cases to identify similarities and differences in institutional work patterns. It considers how actor constellations influence the occupational development.

Despite its importance, there is a lack of empirical studies on occupational development. Data on the reasons, extent, and actors involved in occupational development processes are scarce. Institutional adjustments to socio-economic changes, as well as the conflict lines and negotiation processes within stakeholder negotiations, are particularly under-researched. The paper aims to address these gaps by providing the first detailed insights into how occupational development processes unfold in Switzerland. It examines how collective VET systems can be sustained through continuous adaptation of training content to socio-economic changes. Additionally, it seeks to identify specific factors that contribute to the success of such processes and to analyse potential conflicts. Our key focus is on the perspective of occupational associations. Our research is currently in the process of collecting data and we identify the following tentative first results: Both occupations were introduced to ensure a supply of skilled workers and to offer better prospects to young people with poorer school performance. The two-wheeler industry has experienced significant growth during the coronavirus pandemic and therefore needed more qualified personnel in the workshop. They therefore created a new two-year apprenticeship to relieve the burden on the more highly qualified mechanics. This process was not characterised by conflict, as the companies saw a great need. The hospitality sector had problems finding enough people to take on the three-year apprenticeship and also had a high number of training dropouts. To counteract the shortage of skilled workers, they developed a less demanding two-year apprenticeship. There were two lines of conflict in this occupational development: within the association and between the association and the cantons. Concerns were raised about the low number of expected apprentices, the high administrative burden and the fear of weakening the three-year apprenticeship. Detailed analyses will be available at the time of the conference.

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