High willingness to switch among Swiss professionals
Despite a gloomy economic environment, rising costs, and geopolitical uncertainties, the willingness of Swiss professionals to change jobs remains high. The trend toward greater openness to a career change is continuing this year, as shown by the latest figures from a representative long-term study conducted in German-speaking Switzerland by online recruiting specialist "onlyfy by XING".
On behalf of onlyfy by XING (formerly XING E-Recruiting, a NEW WORK SE company), the market and media research institute Forsa surveyed over a thousand professionals in German-speaking Switzerland at the start of the year about their professional situation and plans for 2023. The most important finding: The "desire for variety" is fueling Swiss professionals' willingness to change jobs.
Willingness to switch in Switzerland: The trend continues to point upward
The willingness of professionals in Switzerland to change employer remains high and has tended to increase slightly compared with the previous year. A total of 60 percent of respondents can imagine changing their employer in 2023, the highest figure to date. Of these, 16 percent already have concrete plans to change and 44 percent are open to a change without having already taken steps to do so.
In 2018, the willingness of Swiss professionals to switch was still at 51 percent, but since then the trend has been upward and is now around one-fifth higher. At 72 percent, the willingness to switch is particularly high in the youngest age segment of 18- to 29-year-olds and at 73 percent among 30- to 39-year-olds. In the 40 to 49 age segment, a good half (56 percent) are still open to switching, while the figure for the over-50s is slightly less than half at 44 percent. Compared with Germany, the willingness to switch is significantly higher in this country. In our neighbor to the north, 37 percent are open to a career change.
Willingness to switch increases despite high satisfaction
While the willingness to change jobs has increased over the past few years, satisfaction with the current job has remained at a consistently high level. According to the latest figures, 84 percent of professionals are somewhat or very satisfied with their job. This is the same number as in 2018. Accordingly, the data do not suggest that the increase in willingness to change jobs in recent years was triggered by a decline in satisfaction. Among young professionals between the ages of 18 and 29, the share of those who are very or somewhat satisfied is slightly lower at 79 percent. Full-time and part-time employees are virtually equally satisfied, at 83 percent and 85 percent respectively.
"Desire for something new" at mid-career most important motivator for change
When looking at the reasons for a possible change, the top reason (41 percent) is that the salary is too low. In second place, at 32 percent, is a general desire for variety in working life. A too high stress level is in third place (30 percent), followed by dissatisfaction with the direct manager (26 percent) and a lack of promotion opportunities (23 percent). The desire for variety is particularly pronounced in mid-career. At 41 percent, the "general desire for variety" among 40- to 49-year-olds is the main driver for the willingness to change jobs. For companies, this means that they can promote the loyalty of their employees to the company by creating targeted opportunities for a varied career structure.
Cohesion among colleagues important criterion for job choice
A higher salary also tops the list of wishes for a potential new employer, at 57 percent. At 56 percent, good team spirit among colleagues is practically equally important for Swiss professionals. In third place, with 53 percent, is the ability to flexibly organize one's working hours. This means that work culture factors have practically the same importance as monetary aspects when looking for a new employer.
Meaningfulness and good corporate culture become more important with age
There are clear differences between the age groups when it comes to the criterion of meaningfulness. While 33 percent of the youngest age group (18 to 29 years) attach importance to a meaningful job, this figure is 51 percent for 30 to 49 year-olds and 56 percent for those over 50. The situation is similar when it comes to corporate culture. This is an important factor for 38 percent of young employees. Among 30 to 49-year-olds, 45 percent attach importance to a good corporate culture, and among the over-50s, the figure is 53 percent. According to the data collected, the high value placed on work culture and meaningfulness is therefore not primarily an issue for younger generations, but an aspiration that can be found in all age groups.
Source: onlyfy by XING
