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WORKING IN SWITZERLAND

Switzerland sees jump in number of job openings

The labour shortage is still impacting Switzerland’s labour market — more so in some regions than in others and in certain specific sectors.

Published: 29 November 2023 11:53 CET

Switzerland sees jump in number of job openings

One of the worst shortages is in healthcare. Image by Darko Stojanovic from Pixabay

Qualified employees are urgently needed in several sectors, mainly healthcare, IT, and engineering.

This is a finding of a new survey carried out by Adecco recruitment agency together with the Swiss Labour Market Monitor from the University of Zurich.

Why is the country still in throes of labour shortages?

On the one hand, given the very low unemployment rate (2 percent in October), the number of job seekers has decreased significantly.

On the other hand, however, this means that “the number of vacant positions increased by 7 percent compared to the previous year,” the study revealed.

Which geographical areas are most affected?

The shortage doesn’t impact all areas of Switzerland the same way, however: it is more marked in German-speaking than in French-language regions.

The former has experienced a bigger drop in the number of people looking for work, while the number of vacant positions has increased.

Most job openings are currently in the Northwest, where 2.8 percent of jobs are vacant, followed by Zurich and central Switzerland (2.6 percent).

The study also reported that if the gap persists, the shortage of employees in certain industries could “turn into a general labour shortage,” even in sectors that currently have “an oversupply of qualified personnel.”

Earlier economic forecasts also showed that even with a moderate immigration of 50,000 skilled professionals per year, up to 400,000 positions could remain vacant in Switzerland by 2030.

READ ALSO: Why is Switzerland’s chronic labour shortage worsening?

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The pitfalls of Switzerland's social security system you need to avoid

The Swiss social security system has several branches: old-age, survivors’ and disability insurance; health and accident insurance; unemployment benefits, and family allowances.

This is a pretty comprehensive package, which covers everyone who pays into the scheme for a wide variety of ‘what ifs’.

As the government explains it, “people living and working in Switzerland benefit from a tightly woven network of social insurance schemes designed to safeguard them against risks that would otherwise overwhelm them financially.”

But while most residents of Switzerland are able to benefit, at least to some extent, from this system, others don’t.

What is happening?

If someone becomes ill or has an accident, Switzerland’s compulsory health insurance and / or accident insurance will cover the costs.

However, a prolonged absence from work can become costly.

That is especially the case of people employed by companies that don’t have a collective labour agreement (CLA), a contract negotiated between Switzerland’s trade unions and employers or employer organisations that covers a wide range of workers’ rights.

READ ALSO: What is a Swiss collective bargaining agreement — and how could it benefit you?

It is estimated that roughly half of Switzerland’s workforce of about 5 million people are not covered by a CLA.

If you just happen to work for a company without a CLA, your employer is not required to pay your salary if your illness is long.

You will receive money for a minimum of three weeks – longer, depending on seniority — but certainly not for the long-haul.

You may think that once your wages stop, the disability insurance (DI) will kick in.

But that’s not the case.

The reason is that DI can be paid only after a year after the wages stop. In practice, however, it sometimes takes several years of investigations and verifications to make sure the person is actually eligible to collect these benefits, rather than just pretending to be sick.

In the meantime, these people have to use their savings to live on.

What about ‘daily allowance insurance’?

Many companies (especially those covered by a CLA) take out this insurance, so they can pay wages to their sick employees for longer periods of time.

However, this insurance is optional for employers without a CLA is place.

As a result, small companies forego it because it is too much of a financial burden for them.

And people who are self-employed face a problem in this area as well: insurance carriers can (and often do) refuse to cover people they deem to be ‘too risky’ in terms of their age or health status.

Critics are calling the two situations —the length of time it takes for the disability insurance to kick in and gaps in the daily allowance insurance—”perhaps the biggest failures of the social security system.”

Is anything being done to remedy this situation?

Given numerous complaints about the unfairness of the current system, the Social Security and Public Health Commission of the Council of States (CSSS-E) will look into the “consequences of shortcomings and numerous dysfunctions in long-term illness insurance.”

But not everyone in Switzerland sees a problem in the current situation.

According to the Swiss Insurance Association (SIA), for instance, “making daily sickness allowance insurance compulsory for employers would not have the desired effect. Due to false incentives, it would only exacerbate the upward trend in costs and premiums.”

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