Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Skills shortage on the rise in key professions

engineer at work
Engineering, natural sciences professions and IT professions are experiencing an acute talent shortage in Switzerland. Keystone

Switzerland’s talent shortage is more pronounced in 2018, a new survey has found. Technical, financial, and medical professions are most affected, while job seekers in the hospitality, retail, and administrative sectors face the greatest competition.

These are the results of the 2018 Skills Shortage IndexExternal link compiled by The Adecco Group Switzerland in collaboration with the University of Zurich’s Job Market Monitor. The annual index compares the number of vacancies in occupations to the number of job seekers.

In the past year, the index rose 9% for engineering and natural sciences professions and 8% for IT professions, where companies are struggling to find enough qualified staff. The finance and fiduciary sectors (e.g. auditors) are also facing shortages but remain stable.

Healthcare professions also had higher skills shortages than the average, continuing a growing trend of the past two years. Doctors, especially, are in short supply across Switzerland; in German-speaking Switzerland there is a particular lack of qualified midwives and nurses. Caregiver and home care positions are easier to fill.

+ How Switzerland’s 2.4% unemployment rate can also cause problems

Companies can address these gaps by improving hiring practices including offering more attractive salaries.

“If they are still unable to fill positions, however, they will be forced to look for qualified specialists abroad. In the long term, companies would do well to invest more in the training and further education of their current and potential future employees,” said Helen Buchs from the Swiss Job Market Monitor at the University of Zurich.

Those sectors with an oversupply of candidates include hospitality and personal services, where there are significantly more job seekers than advertised vacancies. “As a result of the comparatively high rate of staff fluctuations in these professions, this then leads to increased competition between specialists,” added Buchs.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Swiss army seeks to buy German howitzers

More

Swiss army plans to buy German howitzers

This content was published on The Swiss army wants to purchase new German armoured howitzers to replace its existing artillery system which has been in operation for over 50 years.

Read more: Swiss army plans to buy German howitzers
US opinion polls show Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump virtually even ahead of the November 5 election.

More

Poll suggests Donald Trump has many fans in Switzerland

This content was published on Around a quarter of Swiss citizens would vote for Donald Trump if they had the chance, according to a recent poll. This percentage is higher than in many other European countries.

Read more: Poll suggests Donald Trump has many fans in Switzerland

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR