Job Index Q2 / 2019

Continued strong growth in job vacancies in Switzerland: +9%

Health: The index value has almost doubled since 2012

Zurich, 4 July 2019 – Swiss companies advertised 9% more jobs in the second quarter of 2019 than they did in the previous year. This is reflected in the scientifically substantiated survey of the Adecco Group Swiss Job Market Index conducted by the Swiss Job Market Monitor from the University of Zurich. Compared to the previous year, all of the regions showed growth, above all Eastern Switzerland. The majority of the job groups contributed to this upswing, with only a few remaining at last year’s level. The number of job advertisements for teaching occupations and public services increased particularly strongly.
The Adecco Group Swiss Job Market Index rose 9% in the second quarter of 2019 compared to the same quarter of the previous year. “The Swiss job market continues to grow, though first and foremost in occupational groups that are less dependent on economic activity, such as teaching staff and public services. Other occupational groups are already feeling the effects of the negative economic forecasts. In the financial and fiduciary occupational groups, for example, the stagnation of the previous quarter is continuing,” comments Nicole Burth, CEO of the Adecco Group Switzerland. “This development is typical of the late phase of an economic cycle. Both the persistent shortage of workers and the gloomy economic outlook mean that companies are trying to find and retain sought-after talent in the long term,” explains Marius Osterfeld, economist at swissstaffing. “This is also reflected in the declining temporary market.”

Strongest growth in teaching and public service occupations as well as in the health occupations

In almost all occupational groups, the number of job vacancies increased in the second quarter of 2019 compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In the teaching and public services occupations, the third quarter in a row saw a significant increase compared to the previous year, currently up 26%. For example, there is still an increasing demand for primary school teachers, but also for teachers at other levels. In addition, the demand for personnel in the health care occupations is being highlighted once again: Here, the number of job vacancies in the second quarter of this year increased by 18% compared to the previous year. These include, for example, general care professions, dental care professions as well as therapeutic and medical-technical occupations. “Since the start of the measurement series in 2012, the strongest increase can be observed in the health care occupations: Since then, the index value for the health care occupations has almost doubled,” adds Anna von Ow from the Swiss Job Market Monitor.
In the second quarter of 2019, the number of job vacancies for technical and scientific occupations also continued to grow, with an increase of 11% compared to the previous year. A development that can now be observed for more than three years. This occupational group includes, for example, technical specialists and draughtsmen. The number of job vacancies for several occupational groups increased by 10%: On the one hand, the computer science occupations, which include, for example, programmers, but also webmasters and computer science operators. On the other hand, the management and organisation occupations as well as those of construction and development are increasing at the same rate. The trade and sales occupations also increased moderately (+7%). By contrast, the other occupational groups hardly changed compared to the same quarter of the previous year, namely occupations in office and management (+5%), industrial and transport sectors as well as hospitality and personal services (+4% each) and finance and fiduciary services (‒1%).

Eastern Switzerland successfully defends its first place: strongest increase with +23%

As the Adecco Group Swiss Job Market Index for the regions shows, the number of job advertisements in Eastern Switzerland increased by 23% in the second quarter, by far the strongest quarter in a row compared to the same quarter last year. This represents a continuation of the positive development seen in this region since 2016. Compared to the previous year, the occupations of technology and computer science in particular increased (+38%). This occupational group includes, for example, engineers. The other occupational groups are also experiencing an upswing ‒ with an increase of 17% each in personal and social services and business services. The group of business services includes, for example, occupations in the financial and insurance sectors, but also commercial and administrative occupations. A more moderate increase can be observed in the number of job vacancies for occupations in industry and construction (+14%). This occupational group includes, among others, mechanical engineering and metal construction professions.
In the second quarter of 2019, the Espace Mittelland followed in second place in terms of the increase in job vacancies. Here the companies advertised 13% more jobs than in the previous year. Business services in particular are growing here (+22%); this occupational group includes, for example, personnel and organisation specialists. This increase is followed by that in the advertisements for the occupations of personal and social services (+19%), which include, inter alia, care and human medicine occupations. A moderate increase was recorded in the technical and computer science occupations (+8%), while the industrial and construction occupations stagnated (+1%).
The other regions recorded somewhat more moderate growth. Central Switzerland grew by 8%, with only the social and personal services occupations showing an increase this quarter (+38%), while all other occupational groups stagnated or had fewer job advertisements than in the previous year. The Greater Zurich area recorded an increase of 7% compared to the previous year, with all occupational groups benefiting from the upswing. This means that the continuous increase in this region is proceeding at a high level. The job market remained largely stable compared to the previous year in Northwestern Switzerland at +6% and in the Lake Geneva region at +4%. Positive changes can be observed in these two regions in the social and personal services occupations, with increases of 19% and 17% respectively. This occupational group includes, for example, medical and nursing occupations or teachers.

At the beginning of 2019, every seventh company in Switzerland had a vacancy. In Ticino this figure was much lower (Chart 1). This is revealed by a survey of Swiss companies representative of Switzerland* conducted by the Job Market Monitor of the University of Zurich. Around three out of every four positions are advertised throughout Switzerland. In Ticino, this advertising proportion is significantly lower (Chart 2).

Importance of print media as advertising channel sinks dramatically

According to our company surveys, print media now has almost no relevance when it comes to advertising job vacancies. As a result, as of the second quarter of 2018, the number of job advertisements published in the print media will no longer be factored into the calculations of the job index.

Job index and the GDP: Strong correlation

Importance of print media as advertising channel

Note regarding data collection: Optimisation

Based on revisions to the Adecco Group Job Market Index, some of the figures listed in this media release differ slightly from the figures published earlier. The revisions serve to align the index with a constantly changing job market. They pertain above all to the regional allocation of advertisements, the allocation of individual job titles to job groups, and the multiple publication of job advertisements. The revisions are intended to optimise the index, and therefore do not render the earlier published figures invalid in any way.