Swiss labor market study 2024: "Recruitment practices in the context of skills shortages and AI"

"Swiss companies are aware of the potential and benefits of AI in personnel recruitment and selection, but AI is still hardly used systematically in recruitment," says von Rundstedt CEO Pascal Scheiwiller. The study is based on an extensive survey in which 936 HR managers and executives throughout Switzerland took part. The results are available broken down by sector, region and company size.

The main findings of the study:

1. Conservative and conventional recruitment in Switzerland

Despite the shortage of skilled workers, there is still little innovation in recruitment. Recruitment is carried out conventionally via company websites and job portals. Jobs are increasingly being published on social media. Reverse recruiting or informal initiatives via business communities or the company's own employees are still rare. Applications must also be consistently submitted via applicant platforms (ATS) or emails. Social media and modern communication channels are rarely used for this purpose. Without a proper and formal CV, an application is usually not possible.

2. Future skills - companies are looking for hard factors such as industry experience and specialist knowledge

Everyone is talking about future skills. Due to the dynamics of change, technology and AI, it is no longer primarily specialist knowledge that is in demand, but rather transversal skills, the ability to learn, agility, the ability to change, problem solving and social skills. Despite this, Swiss companies focus almost exclusively and often with zero tolerance on specialist knowledge and industry experience when searching for and evaluating applicants. This falls short and increases the pressure on internal personnel development.

3. The CV as the measure of all things

The formal CV is still the centerpiece of an application. Although motivation letters often say more personal things about an applicant, recruiters primarily focus on the hard and historical facts in a CV instead of looking at motivations and future development opportunities. Although CVs are often optimized, this information is trusted far more than public information on Linkedin/Xing.

4. Secondary and extra-professional commitments largely disregarded

The strong focus on functional background and industry experience means that secondary and extra-occupational commitments are largely disregarded. Military leadership experience, part-time activities and sabbaticals often have neither a positive nor a negative influence on the assessment of an applicant profile.

5. Everyone talks about further training - in recruitment this is only of limited interest

Further training is seen as a key element in remaining employable in today's dynamic pace of change. However, specific further training is much less important in the mandatory requirement criteria than age requirements, language skills or years in the industry. The quality and reputation of the educational institutions are also of little interest. It is therefore largely irrelevant where someone has completed a Bachelor's degree or a CAS. This all indicates that the substance of an applicant's continuing education activities is not considered very important.

6. Unsolicited applications are better and more effective than their reputation

Unsolicited applications are taken very seriously in companies. They are systematically and carefully checked and forwarded internally in a targeted manner. They are followed up if they make sense in terms of content. It is important for unsolicited applications to clearly demonstrate why they are being made and why they make sense. The substantive and emotional connection to the target company must be plausibly demonstrated. With a convincing letter of motivation, spontaneous applications have a realistic chance of success.

7. References instead of job references - informal reference requests on the rise

Job references have become obsolete for many companies. However, they are still a formal necessity. Incorrect or negative references can exclude applicants from the process a priori, but ultimately they hardly contribute to the success of the application and the job. Personal references are much more important in Switzerland. More than half of recruiters and companies already rely on informal references from personal contacts, although such requests are not permitted by law.

8. Potential of social media still underutilized

Employer branding is being carried out diligently on social media and vacancies are being published. However, interested parties cannot apply directly via social platforms. They are immediately referred to the regular application channels. The wealth of information on social media is also rarely used to assess and evaluate candidates. Although public information on social platforms is generally more secure than in optimized CVs, the data and evaluations on Linkedin/Xing are hardly taken into account.

9. Great need to catch up in the use of AI

Everyone agrees that there is great potential for the use of AI, particularly in recruitment, applicant management and the evaluation of applicant profiles. Despite this, very few recruiters and companies are currently using AI-supported tools in a targeted and systematic way in recruitment. Instead, the dangers of AI are strongly emphasized. There still seems to be a great deal of unease in dealing with AI and uncertainty about data protection and the expected AI regulation.

10. Dangerous trends on the labor market

Already known trends on the Swiss labor market have been clearly confirmed. Despite a shortage of skilled workers and increasing awareness, age discrimination continues unabated. The zero tolerance of companies towards the desired requirements in terms of specialist knowledge, function and industry makes it difficult to create a culture of lateral entry. Important professional reorientation is impaired as a result. The industry cult of many companies is a particular problem for many applicants.

Source: www.rundstedt.ch / research.hrtoday.ch