The president of the Swiss Employers’ Union has argued that people in Switzerland need to work more if the alpine nation is to remain prosperous. Valentin Vogt said that 300.000 jobs in Switzerland need to be filled imminently and that employers should be encouraging women, young people, the elderly, refugees and those on part-time contracts to work more.

Shortage of workers the greatest threat to Swiss economy, says union

Speaking to reporters from RadioLac, Vogt argued that "the lack of manpower is the greatest obstacle to the growth of the Swiss economy." Recent figures have shown that the shortage of skills in Switzerland has reached an all-time high, with the country seeing a record number of vacancies at the end of October 2022.

Vogt made the point that if solutions to the labour crisis are not found soon, the strength of the Swiss economy will suffer. Therefore, he argued that Swiss entrepreneurs, businesses and the government should encourage more people to get back into the workforce.

New plans to encourage people to take full-time jobs in Switzerland

Specifically, the union took aim at those on part-time work contracts, with Vogt saying he “deplored” the fact that a significant number of people are choosing to reduce their working hours for well-being and not practical reasons. “We have to find a balance between the well-being of society and that of each individual… if we just look at the individual, we won't be where we are now," he noted, calling for all groups that tend to work less to consider full-time employment.

To increase the number of people working full-time, especially women, the union said it would adopt “political measures” that include calls for an increase in the availability of childcare services - although the union called for less funding than current plans to boost childcare services by 770 million francs - and a change to Swiss taxes that would make full-time work more lucrative. “The objective is that time is devoted to working and not leisure,” Vogt concluded. 

Vogt: Increases in immigration may be necessary

“Prosperity does not fall from the sky, we have to earn it every day by the sweat of our brow," Vogt argued. The president concluded that if the plan fails, an increase in the number of expats and internationals coming to Switzerland could go a long way to solving the crisis. However, he argued that any changes to the number of residence permits issued each year should not “just open the floodgates.”