More Swiss jobs advertised in first quarter
After reaching a low point at the end of 2024, the Swiss job market showed the first signs of a slight recovery in the first quarter.
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The opportunities for career starters are particularly favourable, a study by Adecco shows.
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In the first quarter, 2% more job advertisements were uploaded to Swiss job boards than in the previous quarter, according to the Swiss Job Market Index published on Thursday by the Adecco Group and the University of Zurich. However, 9% fewer jobs were advertised compared to the first quarter of 2024.
While the total number of vacancies has been declining since mid-2023, the proportion of open posts that do not require professional experience or further training is growing.
According to the study, young professionals are increasingly in demand, especially since the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. While these positions accounted for 21% of all vacancies in 2019, this figure rose to 28.8% in the first quarter of 2025.
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There is an increase in recruitment, particularly for healthcare professions such as doctors and nurses as well as in the natural sciences, for example as engineers and bioscientists (+7.9 percentage points).
In addition, more jobs were advertised for office and administrative staff (+3.9 percentage points). In 2024/25, the service and sales sector alone accounted for the largest proportion of entry-level positions (40.9%).
Skilled labour shortage
The study sees the reason for the increased demand in the shortage of skilled workers following the coronavirus pandemic and demographic change. In this context, medium-sized and large companies in particular are increasingly recruiting young professionals.
They are prepared to accept lower initial productivity in order to be able to fill their positions at all, the study continues.
At the same time, the requirements have increased. The proportion of jobs with higher educational qualifications has increased. According to the data, more companies require a qualification at secondary level II, i.e. an apprenticeship or secondary school, for example, or a tertiary education (university or university of applied sciences degree).
Overall, the situation on the labour market remains tense in view of the global economic and security situation, wrote the job agency. However, forecasts assume moderate GDP and job growth.
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Translated from German with DeepL/mga
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