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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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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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