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Rise in Swiss layoffs but unemployment remains stable

Layoffs and hiring balanced each other out in 2024
Layoffs and hiring balanced each other out in 2024 Keystone-SDA

Numerous layoffs characterised the Swiss job market last year, according to an analysis by HR company Rundstedt. At the same time, companies were also busy hiring, as the labour market barometer published on Thursday showed.

In absolute terms, there were more redundancy projects in 2024 than in previous years. According to the barometer, the relative proportion of structural redundancies fell despite numerous consolidation measures. On the other hand, the relative proportion of individual redundancies – for personal or performance-related reasons – rose sharply from 16% to 28%.

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Nevertheless, unemployment has not risen as companies have also stepped up hiring. However, workers over the age of 50 experienced greater difficulties in finding a job than in previous years.

The analysis is based on information from 2,738 people affected by layoffs and from 340 companies from various sectors that made redundancies last year.

Adapted from German by DeepL/ac

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