The consulting firm Deloitte has warned that a shortage of workers in Switzerland is set to put the brakes on significant economic growth in the country. By 2025, the employment agency Dynajobs predicts that Switzerland will be short of 365.000 trained specialists.

Workers needed in healthcare, engineering and science in Switzerland

Deloitte surveyed 400 board members from international companies and domestic businesses in Switzerland about their worries for the future. They found that chief among employers’ concerns was the lack of trained labour to perform jobs in Switzerland.

Right now, there is a shortage of 85.000 specialist workers in the country, with that number expected to rise dramatically in the coming years. According to jobs board Adecco, vacancies have increased by 50 percent in the first quarter of 2022 alone, with x28AG finding around a quarter of a million jobs available in Switzerland last week.

While demand is high, Deloitte noted that Switzerland suffers from a serious shortage of “qualified personnel” - workers like doctors, technicians, tradespeople and specialists. Blick reported that the most significant shortages are in fields like science, engineering, technical work and healthcare.

Attempts made to close the skills gap in the Swiss economy

The skilled worker shortage is also being worsened by attitudes among young people that make certain jobs seem less appealing. Blick reported that many young people are worried that specialisation in a highly specific field makes losing your job - be it because of a closing business or pandemic - all the more significant. Many also want to continue to work from home, something that is practically impossible to offer for many industries.

In response, the alpine nation has started to improve working conditions in some sectors, such as approving the nursing initiative to provide better salaries and working hours to healthcare workers, but Blick noted that these schemes will take time to implement. There is also hope that Ukrainian refugees fleeing to Switzerland may also be able to fill the skills gap in the Swiss economy.