How artificial intelligence is shaping the Swiss job market

People will interact more frequently with AI in the workplace Keystone-SDA

The spread of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace is threatening to create a two-tiered job market. AI experience is fast becoming an essential skill for hiring companies.

More than CHF80 billion ($98.5 billion) of wages in Switzerland are now directly linked to workers who can exploit AI for the benefit of the companies they work for, according to research by the Swiss Employees’ Association.

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“AI-native candidates preferred,” reads a job advertisement for a communications manager at Sygnum bank. “At a minimum, you must have hands-on experience using a range of AI tools in your daily work. Candidates who can clearly demonstrate practical, results-driven use of AI will be prioritised.”

A survey by the consultancy group PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found that the number of Swiss job ads demanding AI skills rose by around 9,000 last year to a new high of 25,000.

A Swissinfo perusal of recent job advertisements hit on a number of these listings. Shoe manufacturer On is searching for candidates who “regularly use agentic AI to enhance creative workflows”. Clothing brand North Face is seeking people with an “interest and ability to apply AI tools to improve workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and enhance content production efficiently.”

Challenge for employers

Pharmaceutical giant Roche wants someone who has “deep familiarity with generative AI applications” to “serve as architect for the vision, governance, and deployment of AI-enabled communications” for the company’s brand.

The greatest demand for AI skills comes from the technology, media and telecommunications sectors. The public sector displays the least urgency for AI-competent staff.

AI-specific listings still only account for 1.8% of all job postings in Switzerland. But PwC adds that “AI is making its way into the entire economy, from traditional industrial sectors to knowledge-intensive services.”

Experts believe several factors will determine the long-term impact of AI on the Swiss job market, including training, education, and regulation.

“The biggest challenge for the Swiss labour market is not the technology itself. It lies in the speed at which companies, the education system, and the workforce develop new skills,” says the Swiss Employees’ Association. “Whether [AI] leads to greater prosperity or greater uncertainty will not be decided by the algorithms, but by the decisions of companies, politicians, and educators.”

So far, companies are still exploring the full potential and limitations of the evolving technology. And the integration of AI into various business sectors is an ongoing trial and error project.

AI threat downplayed

The website ailayoffs.liveExternal link claims that nearly half a million people have been laid off worldwide due to AI. But initial fears that AI algorithms will push humans out of the workplace have in some cases been met with a reality check.

The online holiday booking company Lastminute.com, which is headquartered in Amsterdam and the Swiss town of Chiasso, announced in June that it would reduce headcount by 25% globally to concentrate on its AI strategy.

However, American car maker Ford has rehired more than 300 quality inspectors after AI cameras failed to match human ability to reliably spot defects, according to Bloomberg.

And other companies have been accused of falsely blaming AI for redundancies that were made for other reasons.

“I don’t know what the exact percentage is, but there’s some AI washing where people are blaming AI for layoffs that they would otherwise do,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told CNBC-TV18 at the India AI Impact Summit in February.

Enhancing performance

Elsewhere, AI is taking on human tasks, but with supervision. SwissBus, the transport division of Swiss Post, will start transporting passengers in its fleet of Amigo driverless buses next year.  

For now, however, Swiss transport regulations will still require Amigo buses to have a safety operator on board who can intervene if things start to go wrong.

“In the short term the AI threat should be put into perspective, particularly in the transport sector,” a spokesperson for the trade union Syndicom told Swissinfo. “Despite all the announcements, the technology is still not mature enough to transport passengers without any human personnel.” However, “in the longer term, there is a real risk that Swiss Post will use the increased deployment of AI to accelerate its policy of workforce reduction,” the spokesperson says.

PwC differentiates between companies that simply use AI to replace humans for repetitive tasks and those that employ the technology to enhance performance with new products and services. The most efficient companies could end up hiring more people and paying them more, the business consultancy giant says.

“Far from being a job killer, AI may actually be a job expander when used to unlock growth and enter new markets. Wages too are growing faster at the most AI-exposed companies, suggesting gains are shared with workers,” according to PwC’s 2026 AI Global Jobs Barometer.

The report also notes that AI is driving some companies to prioritise other values in employees as well. “Increasingly, employers value skills such as critical thinking, AI literacy, domain knowledge, communication, and the ability to supervise and verify AI output rather than simply perform repetitive tasks.”

So while workers are advised to put themselves in pole position by learning how to use AI, human skills like empathy, judgement, and leadership will likely become more valuable as algorithms take care of menial tasks that require less creativity. 

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Edited by Gabe Bullard/ac