This paper discusses the issue of attrition in apprenticeship programs, a topic that has attracted growing attention by VET researchers and policy-makers in many developed countries. It commences with a brief overview of the key issues challenging initial vocational education in Switzerland, and links these issues to similar concerns in Australia. It then demonstrates how concerns about the workplace environments can be understood through the particular lens of linguistic methods. These methods assist by providing a fine-grained analysis of the interactional processes that can lead to attrition and change in apprenticeship pathways. A case study based on empirical material collected in Swiss workplaces and documenting interactions between a first-year apprentice, his supervisor and his colleagues provides an illustration of this linguistic perspective and illuminates the challenges faced by apprentices in the early days of work. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 4 footnotes.)