Labor markets have largely recovered
Various indicators show that the labor markets have largely recovered from the "Covid shock". Some figures are even better than before the outbreak of the pandemic. What is apparent, however: The shortage of skilled workers is more acute than ever.
In March 2020, the first Corona Lockdown led to a drastic slump in the job market. Almost two years later, we are seeing a rapid economic recovery, as various evaluations consistently show. For example, according to the Adecco Group Swiss Job Market Index, companies are posting 39% more jobs in Q4 2021 than in the same quarter last year. Most occupational groups can look forward to a significant increase in demand. All of Switzerland's major regions are also benefiting from a broad-based recovery in the labor markets. In the Espace Mittelland, technology professionals (+50%) (e.g. engineering and comparable professionals) and in Central Switzerland, STEM and health professions (+48%) (e.g. natural scientists, mathematicians and engineers) are the main beneficiaries. In northwestern Switzerland, service and sales professionals (+54%) (e.g. sales professionals) and business and social professions (+45%) (e.g. social scientists and cultural professionals) in particular are enjoying strong job growth.
Where the shortage of skilled workers is most acute
The labor market barometer of the outplacement service provider von Rundstedt also states a good recovery of the labor markets. After a clear break in 2020, some sectors are again looking intensively for personnel. According to the Adecco Group Swiss Job Market Index, skilled trades and support workers (+23%), which include professions such as polymechanics, precision craftsmen (e.g. watchmakers and micromechanics) and food processing professions (e.g. bakers and meat specialists), are experiencing a recovery. The largest percentage increase was seen in office and administrative professionals (+21%) (e.g. general office and secretarial professionals) and service and sales professionals (+17%) (e.g. sales and support professionals).
Fewer terminations due to downsizing measures
On the other hand, in 2021 far fewer dismissals were due to downsizing measures, namely only 23 percent, according to von Rundstedt. However, another figure is worth noting: at 25 percent, a relatively large number of individual terminations were due to performance deviations in 2021. But the good news is that those who have been made redundant are once again finding a new job much more quickly than a year ago. The average search period has fallen from 6.9 to 5.3 months. The situation has improved particularly among the over-50s, where the search period has fallen from 8.3 to 6.9 months. This value is even lower than that of 2019. However, the fundamentally pleasing development should not hide the fact that there is still a large difference between the marketable and the difficult profiles in all age groups, according to the report. The search duration varies from 3.2 months (marketable easy profiles) to 9.2 months (difficult profiles). This shows that it is still difficult for some people to find a new job despite the shortage of skilled workers. This polarization between the winners and losers on the labor market is increasing more and more in the course of the digital transformation. Even the shortage of skilled workers is not changing this.
More industry mobility
Thanks to the shortage of skilled workers, however, companies are more willing to consider applicants from outside the industry, according to another of von Rundstedt's findings. Industry mobility has reached a record level of 52 percent in 2021, he said. This is good news, because it is precisely this flexibility that a labor market needs in a major structural change such as the digital transformation, von Rundstedt writes in this regard. These figures would prove that there is a causal link between a shortage of skilled workers, selection flexibility and mobility opportunities for applicants. The difficult situation in some industries as a result of COVID-19 has certainly also contributed to this, because many people have had to change careers and reposition themselves.
Not only labor markets, but the world of work as a whole is changing
The Corona pandemic has changed the labor market and the world of work as a whole. According to a joint study by the OECD and the jobs site Indeed, the acceptance and spread of home offices in companies has also increased sharply worldwide. According to this study, the proportion of home office users in most countries of the international community (with exceptions) has skyrocketed. Especially where the measures to contain the pandemic were particularly strict. But even after they were relaxed, a much predicted decline hardly became reality - on the contrary. Overall, the average home office share in the 20 OECD countries studied has more than tripled since the start of the pandemic, according to the study. While just under 2.5 percent of job ads listed this option in January 2020, by April 2021 it was 7.9 percent. That increase was due in large part to pandemic-related restrictions that led to high adoption of home offices - in jobs that can be done well from home. Despite easing measures, the average percentage of home office ads remained near its peak, at 7.5 percent in September 2021. In Switzerland, it was 7.08 percent at that time and currently stands at 7.2 percent.
Sources: von Rundstedt, Adecco Group, Indeed
