Jobs in Switzerland: What’s the latest outlook?

Despite modest gains, Switzerland’s job market remains slow to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic. There is however one industry where demand is far outstripping supply.

Published: 6 October 2020 15:46 CEST

Jobs in Switzerland: What's the latest outlook?

Photo: Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP

Results from the third quarter of 2020 show a 15 percent decline in new job ads, compared to figures from 2019.

It was however an increase on the figures from 2020’s second quarter, which were 27 percent down on 2019.

Job ads Switzerland wide fell 15 percent, the same as the figure in German-speaking Switzerland.

'Highest unemployment in decades': How coronavirus hit the Swiss job market

In French and Italian-speaking Switzerland, job ads fell by 14 percent.

The figures come from the Swiss Job Market Index, put together by employment agency Adecco and the University of Zurich.

“The current GDP figures also point to an increasingly positive development,” said Monica Dell'Anna, CEO of the Adecco Group Switzerland.

Health worker demand remains high

Job ads in the health industry have grown significantly during the pandemic, 35 percent higher than figures from 2015.

The need for nursing assistants has grown by 120 percent, while the demand for senior doctors has increased by 63 percent.

While it may be little surprise to see a buoyant health sector as a result of a global pandemic, the authors note that this was not always the case.

“After the introduction of the corona protective measures in the 2nd quarter of 2020, the number of advertisements for medical professions initially plummeted,” they wrote.

“It should be noted, however, that the number of job advertisements rose at an above-average rate shortly before the introduction of the corona protective measures.”

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The onset of winter will raise concerns for many in Germany about the cost of heating their homes, with memories of last year’s rocketing prices and concerns over domestic gas supply resurfacing.

But, compared to last year, the energy prices have now largely stabilised, though they are still higher than in 2021.

The stabilisation in prices is partly thanks to the government’s energy price cap which came into force earlier this year to cushion the blow of soaring energy prices by capping electricity costs at 40 cents per kilowatt-hour and natural gas at 12 cents.

The federal government plans to maintain this cap until the end of April, though this could be extended even longer, if necessary.

How high are heating costs expected to go this year?

For the current year, experts from co2online expect somewhat lower heating costs than last year.

Heating with gas, for example, is expected to be 11 percent cheaper in 2023 than in 2022, costing €1,310 per year for a flat of 70 square metres.

The cost of heating with wood pellets will drop by 17 percent to €870 per year, and heating with heating oil will cost 19 percent less and amount to €1,130.

According to co2online, the costs for heating with a heat pump will drop the most – by 20 percent to €1,1105. The reason for this, according to co2online, is a wider range of heat pump electricity tariffs.

Tax hikes in January

Starting January next year, the government will raise the value-added tax on natural gas from seven to nineteen percent.

Alongside this, the CO2 price, applicable when refuelling and heating, will also increase.

According to energy expert Thomas Engelke from the Federal Consumer Association, these increases will mean that a small single-family household with three or four people that heats with gas would then pay about €240 more per year for gas.

“That’s a lot”, he said.

Another additional cost factor to consider is that network operators also want to raise prices. However, the federal government plans to allocate €5.5 billion to cushion this increase for consumers as much as possible, so how such cost increases will ultimately affect consumers is currently hard to estimate.

Overall, it can be said that, from January, consumers will have to brace themselves for higher energy costs, even though massive increases are currently not expected.

Consumer advocate Engelke advised customers to closely examine where potential savings could be made this upcoming winter: “Those who are now signing a new gas or electricity contract should inform themselves and possibly switch. Currently, you can save a few hundred euros. It’s worth it. On the other hand, you should also try to save as much energy as possible this winter.”