Swiss service sector adds jobs as industry employment dips
Employment in Switzerland continued to rise slightly in the fourth quarter of 2025. The increase was once again driven by the services sector, while industry jobs continue to decline.
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Swiss service sector adds jobs as industry employment dips
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The employment outlook is positive overall, according to the employment barometer published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
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Overall, the number of people in employment grew by 0.2% year-on-year to 5.544 million, said the barometer. Compared to the previous quarter, there was a seasonally adjusted increase of 0.2%.
In the service sector, 9,700 new jobs were created between October and December, an increase of 0.2% compared to the same period last year. At the same time, 1,100 jobs were lost in industry and construction, a fall of 0.1%. This continued the trend of the previous quarter.
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Fewer vacancies
The decline in the number of job vacancies continued. Companies reported 86,000 job vacancies in the fourth quarter, which is 4.3% fewer than a year ago. However, the difficulties in recruiting skilled labour have changed little recently, writes the FSO.
Meanwhile, short-term employment prospects have developed positively according to the FSO. The proportion of companies planning to increase staff rose slightly compared to the previous quarter to 10.1%, while those considering a reduction fell slightly to 5.2 %.
The indicator for employment prospects thus rose slightly to 1.03.
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Demographic shifts cause Swiss labour market crunch
Adapted from German by AI/mga
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