The number of new hires across the country is expected to slow in Q4 of 2024, according to a survey conducted by international recruitment agency Manpower and published on Thursday.
While Switzerland’s Net Employment Outlook (NEO) is still far greater than its neighbours at 32 percent, it is still two percentage points down from the last quarter and six percentage points down from this time in 2023.
This figure is calculated by subtracting the percentage of employers expecting to reduce staff from the percentage of those expecting to hire new workers. This provides an effective measure of employer sentiment.
Winners and losers
Finance and real estate are the sectors seeing the biggest decline in new jobs, with a NEO of only 21 percent, in large part due to their close ties to global financial markets and regulatory shifts.
Meanwhile IT and retail remained relatively robust, with an NEO of 46 and 43 percent respectively.
These areas have been relatively insulated from the difficulties encountered elsewhere, thanks to the progress of digitization across Switzerland, with Black Friday and the Christmas season providing a boost to the retail sector.
The size of companies also appears to play a role for those seeking work – those looking to work for a larger employer in luck.
Mid-sized companies, with between 250 to 999 staff reported a NEO of 57 percent, while those with between 1000 – 4,999 have a NEO of 43 percent.
Location, location
Job-seekers could also find their task more difficult depending on where they are located in Switzerland, according to the survey results.
Those in Switzerland’s eastern cantons have it easier with the Central Switzerland region achieving a NEO of 60 percent, Eastern Switzerland at 48 percent and Zurich at 33 percent.
In the western half of the country, the Espace Mitteland appeared to do well with a NEO of 40 percent. However, the Lake Geneva region (26) and Northeastern Switzerland region (22) both saw a marked slowdown in hiring.
Ticino is the only region to score a negative NEO at -4 percent.
Top ten performance
While there are substantial variations in job opportunities within different sectors and regions in Switzerland, overall, the country is ranked in the top ten globally in terms of Net Employment Outlook.
The country placed in sixth place worldwide, below South Africa and above Guatemala.
India scored the top spot on Manpower’s NEO rankings, followed by Costa Rica and the United States.
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