The Commercial Association demands between 1 and 2 percent more pay
The Commercial Association is demanding between 1% and 2% more pay, depending on the sector. The upturn in the Swiss economy is continuing and companies' order books are well filled. Employees should therefore benefit from the upturn, especially as consumer prices are also rising again.
Wage increases of at least 1% are justified in all sectors for 2019, in some cases up to 2%, writes the Kaufmännische Verband in a communiqué. The Swiss economy remains on a robust growth path, the experts of the Swiss Confederation expect GDP growth of 2.4% in 2018.
Improved employment prospects
Companies' order books are also well filled, according to the latest KOF surveys. The export-oriented industrial sectors were able to expand last year thanks to the improved competitiveness of Swiss companies and the positive economic situation in Europe. The solid global economy and favorable exchange rate developments continue to boost demand for Swiss products. At the same time, growth impulses are increasingly coming from the domestic economy, which means that Switzerland's economic growth should become increasingly self-sustaining, according to the latest SECO economic forecast. According to the experts, there is a certain degree of uncertainty in the international trade disputes, which have recently intensified somewhat. The employment outlook has once again improved significantly compared with the previous year and is broadly based across all sectors. SECO's assessment is particularly positive for the industrial sector.
Invest in employees now
This positive momentum on the labor market is supported by above-average consumer sentiment. Due to increased oil and import prices, the experts at KOF and SECO expect inflation to rise. They forecast inflation of 0.8% to 1%. Since nominal wages have hardly risen in recent years, a wage increase is already justified against this background in order to maintain purchasing power. Employees have played a major role in the positive development of the economy and should participate accordingly in the upswing. In addition, investments in employees should be made in order to keep the company competitive in the long term.
Not all industries grow at the same rate
Although growth is broad-based, it remains heterogeneous in the individual sectors. A broad-based recovery has set in in the export-oriented MEM industries, which are reporting rising order intake and sales and are looking positively to the future. The financial services sector and wholesale trade have also made gains. Likewise, the Swiss ICT market continues to grow strongly thanks to investments in the IT sector. The chemical and pharmaceutical industry remains the most important sector of the Swiss export economy and is also developing well this year. Despite a difficult market environment, the situation in the retail sector has brightened and the downward trend of recent years has come to an end. The construction sector is developing solidly at a high level, albeit with lower momentum than during the construction boom in 2014.
The Kaufmännische Verband sees sufficient reasons in this positive dynamic to allow employees to benefit from it. How much more pay should be possible in every industry, you can find out here.
