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WORKING IN SWITZERLAND

Why are some international companies in Switzerland laying off staff?

While many employers in Switzerland are desperately looking to hire workers, others have been, or are planning to, cut hundreds of jobs. Why is this?

Published: 24 October 2023 12:42 CEST
Why are some international companies in Switzerland laying off staff?
Hundreds of people lost their jobs at the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva. Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

Switzerland has been impacted by a massive worker shortage for many months, with a number of companies in various sectors unable to find qualified personnel to fill vacant positions. 

This workforce scarcity is “at its highest level in Switzerland,” according to a recent report by the University of St. Gallen.

The consequences of this shortage, the report pointed out, could be dire, affecting the country’s economic development and, consequently, its prosperity as well.

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

Logically, when the demand for workers outstrips the supply, companies should be actively recruiting new employees to fill the vacancies, not firing old ones.

But this is what some international companies have been doing — or are planning to do in the near future.

Who has been laying off employees, and why?

The most sweeping layoffs — about 3,000 jobs — happened in the banking sector, when UBS took over Credit Suisse earlier this year.

The reason for these cuts is to recoup the 3 billion francs that UBS had to spend to rescue its rival and to avert a banking crisis of global proportions.

The overall restructuring will cause 2,000 additional redundancies in Switzerland over the next couple of  years.

Other multi-nationals have been laying off employees as well.

In Zurich, for instance, Google has laid off more than 200 people since March.

The usually employee-friendly global technology giant cited corporate restructuring and “more effective business design” as a reason for job cuts.

After years of growth, the company has become too big and now wants to downsize, it said at the time.

And in September, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC / CICR) announced the laying off of 270 employees from its headquarters in Geneva.

More cuts could be announced in November, once the humanitarian organisation completes its budget process for 2024.

The reason for these layoffs are reduced aid budgets (that is, less money donated by various governments) that can no longer meet escalating humanitarian needs across the world.

READ ALSO: Which foreign workers are entitled to unemployment benefits in Switzerland?

 

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JOBS

Which professions in Switzerland are harder for foreigners to break into?

In many sectors of Switzerland’s economy, Swiss employees prevail over foreign ones — and vice-versa.

Published: 15 May 2024 14:40 CEST
Which professions in Switzerland are harder for foreigners to break into?

In the past, the ‘division of labour’ in Switzerland was clear: foreign nationals held mostly manual (and therefore lower-paid) jobs, while the Swiss worked in managerial / executive and other middle and high positions.

Many sectors still follow these traditional roles, with some jobs held almost exclusively by Swiss citizens, and others by foreign nationals.

Which jobs are mostly held by the Swiss?

To find this out, the Basel-based consultancy firm, Demografik, surveyed professions with more than 10,000 employees.

It found that “about 60 percent of the country’s masons and flooring installers are foreign-born,” Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), reported.

The comparable figure among the country’s unskilled workers as a whole is even higher —  84 percent.

“Swiss nationals also make up only a third of kitchen assistants and cleaning staffers” — jobs typically held by immigrants with no higher education or vocational training.

On the other hand, Swiss citizens hold a number of jobs that are almost unattainable for unskilled foreign nationals, including police officers, teachers, lawyers, senior administrative staff, and social workers.

Only a small percentage of immigrants work in these professions.

However, they dominate fields such as service staff, chauffeurs, unskilled industrial workers, and construction — jobs where very few Swiss can be found.

Why is this?

“The proportion of foreign workers is highest in jobs that are generally considered unappealing – whether because of the low pay, high level of physical demands or irregular working hours,” said Demografik economist Lisa Triolo.

“Nevertheless, these professions are important for the functioning of the economy, because they are difficult to automate.”

Triolo also found that foreigners mainly work in areas where recruiting employees has been difficult.

“The longer the vacancy period in an occupational group, the higher the proportion of foreigners,” she pointed out.  “For example, construction is the sector in which companies take the longest to fill an open position.”

Is this survey objective?

It is, if you focus primarily on unskilled foreign workers, who basically take on jobs that the Swiss don’t want.

The picture is different, however, if you include skilled professionals into the mix.

Many of them hold the same positions, and earn equal or even higher wages, than their Swiss counterparts.

READ ALSO: In which jobs in Switzerland do foreign workers earn more than the Swiss? 

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