The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Swiss job prospects deteriorate further in early 2025

Employment prospects deteriorate further in early 2025
Employment prospects deteriorate further in early 2025 Keystone-SDA

More Swiss companies are planning to cut their workforce, particularly in the manufacturing and retail sectors this year.

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The employment indicator calculated by the Centre for Business Cycle Research (KOF) in Zurich slumped to 2.6 points at the start of 2025, continuing an uninterrupted erosion since the third quarter of 2022.

+ What lies ahead for Switzerland: an economic outlook for 2025External link

The index is now approaching its long-term average of 1.5 points, the experts from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) add in their regular publication on Monday.

In the red since mid-2023, the indicator for the manufacturing industry continues its exploration of the abyss and now shows a value of -12.4%. A majority of companies surveyed in the wholesale and hotel & catering sectors are also considering downsizing.

Conversely, the majority of insurance companies, construction firms and other service providers are expecting to hire new staff.

More

Translated from German with DeepL/mga

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Once again, less wood is being felled in Swiss forests

More

Less wood felled in Swiss forests in 2024

This content was published on Following a drop already in 2023, the harvest volume again declined last year, as the importance of wood chips for energy production has increased.

Read more: Less wood felled in Swiss forests in 2024
Higher direct payments do not stop scrub encroachment on alpine pastures

More

Higher direct payments fail to curb scrub encroachment on alpine pastures

This content was published on The scrub encroachment on Swiss alpine pastures leads to the loss of grassland and damages the typical landscape. It is also responsible for the decline in biodiversity. Despite higher direct payments, the bushes continue to spread.

Read more: Higher direct payments fail to curb scrub encroachment on alpine pastures
Swiss population satisfied with life according to survey

More

Swiss population satisfied with life according to survey

This content was published on In a survey, the population of German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland expressed general satisfaction with their lives. Respondents were less happy with politics and their personal finances, according to the online comparison service Moneyland.

Read more: Swiss population satisfied with life according to survey

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR