Courtesy LVMH/Johnny Vacar
- Tiffany & Co. parent LVMH is expanding a program to train people to make high-end jewelry.
- The program doesn't require a college degree and creates a talent pipeline of craftspeople for LVMH.
- The luxury giant has been offering similar vocational programs in Europe for nearly a decade.
Many young Americans are questioning whether college is worth it.
For Tiffany & Co., a college degree isn't a must for someone's résumé.
The company's owner, luxury goods giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, is expanding a program that trains people to become artisans who can make Tiffany's high-end jewelry.
"Some of these professions have kind of been dying a little bit," Gena Smith, chief human resources officer of LVMH North America, told Insider. "We love to be able to bring people into the organization at an early point in their career, and create a robust pipeline for us for the future."
LVMH's goal is to help develop craftspeople, like jewelers, whom the company can hire in a tight labor market. The company said Thursday it's begun a two-year bench jewelry apprenticeship program involving Tiffany and the Rhode Island School of Design. Bench jewelers typically design, make, and repair jewelry.
The move comes as Gen Zers rethink the idea of college as costs skyrocket and US student-loan payments are resuming following a pandemic hiatus. In fact, US college enrollment has dropped 9.8% since its 2010 peak, according to the research group Education Data Initiative.
The new program at Tiffany's Rhode Island workshop involves seven apprentices. A similar vocational effort that began at Tiffany's New York workshop in 2022 has eight apprentices. The company plans to expand both programs in 2024.
"Part of the beauty of the program is that it's open to anyone who wants to apply," Smith said.
The apprenticeship setups are part of LVMH's Métiers d'Excellence initiative, which the company started in 2014.
Courtesy LVMH/Johnny Vacar
Across Europe and in Japan, LVMH has ramped up efforts to teach workers the creative and craftsmanship skills necessary to make high-end leather goods for its Louis Vuitton brand, assemble watches for Tag Heuer, or create tailoring for Fendi. Three in four participants have gone on to get jobs with LVMH, partner organizations, or other luxury goods makers in 2021 and 2022, the company said.
LVMH recently has started other apprenticeship programs in the US, including one in San Francisco through the company's Benefit Cosmetics brand, and plans to add apprenticeship programs involving more of its labels, the company said.
No AI here — only handcrafted goods by real people
These vocational programs focus on processes that can't be — or shouldn't be — automated, to preserve the handcrafted nature of what the company produces, Smith said.
"If you look at the way that our products are designed, whether it's watches and jewelry or beauty or fashion, so much of the work is dependent on actual people. It's not often work that machines can do," she said.
For the people interested in becoming Tiffany's apprentices, there are tests involving dexterity and hand-eye coordination to ensure they'd be able to complete tasks like setting or cutting stones.
Smith said part of the recruiting challenge has been that corporate roles, or those in technology, have sometimes had a more "aspirational" sheen than jobs where people work with their hands. And corporate gigs can sometimes offer higher pay and more career opportunities.
The company declined to comment on how much someone might earn as a bench jeweler at Tiffany's.
Recruiting challenges are something LVMH is hoping to tackle through expanding apprenticeship opportunities, Smith said.
"Part of the success of the program has just been bringing visibility and awareness that these jobs exist, they're really essential to our businesses, and that there's opportunity to continue to grow and evolve in your career" while making a good income, she said.