Employment rises in the third quarter – but subdued outlook
Published: Friday, Nov 24th 2023, 10:10
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Employment in Switzerland remains solid. More jobs were created again in the third quarter of 2023. However, the outlook is somewhat less optimistic.
The number of jobs rose by 1.9% to a total of 5.465 million in the quarter under review compared to the same period last year. This is the tenth increase in a row, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Friday.
Employment in the secondary sector (industry and construction) rose by 1.3% (1.137 million jobs) and in the tertiary sector (services) by 2.1% (4.328 million). Converted into full-time positions, the employment volume reached 4.253 million jobs. This is 1.7 percent or 69,600 jobs more than a year ago.
Industries and regions
Although all sectors reported an increase in employment, the strongest percentage growth, as in all quarters since the coronavirus crisis, was recorded by the hospitality industry at 6.0%. However, the "education sector" and the banking and insurance industry also developed very positively at 3.0% each. Meanwhile, the construction industry recorded the weakest growth at just 0.6%.
In terms of regions, employment also increased in all major regions of Switzerland. Central Switzerland stood out positively with growth of 2.9%, while Ticino was at the bottom of the league with just 0.4%.
Job vacancies fall - outlook more subdued
However, there are increasing signs that the good situation on the Swiss labor market could soon be dampened. Seasonally adjusted and compared to the previous quarter, the number of employees in companies only rose by just under 0.1%.
In addition, the number of vacancies reported by companies fell by 8.1% to 114,200. The number fell in all major regions, both in the secondary (-5.2%) and tertiary sectors (-9.0%).
Companies are also less optimistic about the future. The indicator for employment prospects fell by 1.6% compared to the previous quarter. The proportion of companies planning to increase employment in the short term was still at 12.4%, compared to 14.2% in the same quarter of the previous year. In contrast, the proportion of those planning to reduce staff rose from 3.5% to 4.5%.
Although the difficulties in finding skilled workers have decreased slightly by 0.5 percentage points to 40.7 percent, the FSO reports that it is still difficult to find skilled personnel.
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