Swiss labor market resists the global downturn
Despite the current economic challenges, the latest results of the ManpowerGroup Employment Survey show that hiring plans in Switzerland remain robust and the outlook for the next three months remains optimistic.
Although the ongoing talent shortage has decreased slightly since last year, its impact remains a key issue. This underlines the need for strategic staffing solutions in order to successfully overcome the evolving economic challenges.
Against the backdrop of inflation, the strength of the Swiss franc, the global economic slowdown and ongoing political tensions, moderate economic growth is expected for Switzerland in 2024. Despite these challenges, the employment outlook for Swiss companies remains positive for the coming quarter. In fact, the forecast Net Employment Outlook (NEO) stands at 33%, which is a decrease of 6 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, but 6 percentage points higher than last year.
The breakdown indicates a positive hiring trend: 44% of respondents expect an increase in the number of employees, 41% expect no change and 13% forecast a decrease. Compared to the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, Switzerland is in second place in terms of employment prospects after the Netherlands (37%) and is therefore 10 percentage points above the regional average.
Strength in the domestic market, challenges for export industries
The sectors operating in Germany show a generally positive outlook for the coming quarter. The information technology (IT) sector in particular has a hiring outlook of 62%, an increase of 38 percentage points compared to the previous quarter and 16 percentage points compared to the same period last year. The finance and real estate sector follows with an outlook of 54%, an increase of 28 percentage points compared to the previous quarter and 36 percentage points year-on-year. Although the communication services sector has seen a decline of 20 percentage points since the last quarter, it still maintains a positive outlook of 46%. Year-on-year, the sector continues to show an increase in hiring prospects of 16%.
However, the picture is more moderate for the export-oriented sectors, where hiring prospects are more cautious. The transportation, logistics and automotive sector has a net employment outlook of 25%, which represents a significant decline of 37 percentage points since the last quarter. Similarly, the energy and industry sector has an outlook of 23%, which represents a decrease of 30 percentage points compared to the previous quarter.
At a regional level, the employment outlook is positive throughout Switzerland. The strongest labor markets are expected in Central Switzerland (45%) and Zurich (44%), both with an increase of 7 percentage points compared to the previous quarter. These regions show a significant increase of 30 and 19 percentage points respectively compared to the previous year. The remaining seven regions show a decline compared to the previous quarter: With an employment outlook of 26 %, the Ticino region recorded the most significant decline of 31 percentage points compared to the previous quarter and 19 percentage points compared to the previous year.
Overcoming the talent shortage
Despite an optimistic employment outlook, Swiss employers are facing a significant challenge: In fact, 73% of companies are struggling to fill vacancies due to a lack of qualified talent. The low unemployment rate further exacerbates this problem and intensifies the competition for qualified specialists. According to a study, skills in IT and data (29%), production and manufacturing (22%), engineering (21%) and operations and logistics (20%) are most in demand.
To find, attract and recruit talent, Swiss employers are prioritizing work flexibility (48%) and offering more options in terms of working hours and locations. They are also considering salary increases (30%) and evaluating new talent pools, such as older workers and cross-border talent (28%).
Strategic priorities for 2024: overcoming trends and challenges in the HR sector
Looking ahead to 2024, companies say they are proactively aligning their strategies with the diverse and influential trends shaping the world of work. The most important trend is employee wellbeing, as emphasized by 65% of respondents. This trend has a high or medium influence on companies' strategic plans. Recruitment of skilled workers follows closely behind, with 63% stating that this trend has a significant impact on their plans. This underlines companies' focus on attracting and retaining skilled talent.
Furthermore, 55% of companies show an interest in dynamics such as overcoming potential threats from a recession, promoting diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives and optimizing fixed-term contracts. In addition, 50-55% of companies are looking closely at issues such as internal office labor policies, the phenomenon of mass layoffs and the transition to artificial intelligence (AI) and technology.
In terms of integrating (AI) into the workforce, employers cite training employees (26 %) and understanding what new skills need to be acquired. Finding qualified talent and creating relevant training and development programs are also cited as the most significant challenges (20 %) to take full advantage of the technology.
Source: www.manpowergroup.ch
