Over-55s account for less than 10% of new hires in Switzerland

Over-55s account for less than 10% of new hires Keystone-SDA

Only 8% of Swiss jobs are filled by people aged 55 and over, even though this age group represents 23% of the working population, says insurer Swiss Life.

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While the integration of older employees is good in Switzerland by international comparison, people who lose their jobs over the age of 55 often find it difficult to find new work. When the retirement age has passed, at 65 and over, only 16% of employers are clearly willing to hire, and 28% can “rather envisage it”, note the authors of the study.

When asked about the ideal retirement age for men, 46% of employers indicated an age below 65. Only 15% of employers surveyed set the ideal retirement age at 66 or over. In the case of women, 58% of employers believe that the ideal retirement age is below 65.

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Half of all companies note that finding qualified staff is a difficult task. Yet only 22% see hiring older employees as a solution, and 13% encourage working beyond retirement age. And yet, this reserve of manpower is considerable, insofar as people aged between 55 and 70 represent around a fifth of the available potential workforce.

“It is conceivable that, in the future, a worsening of the demographic shortage of skilled labor will boost the labor market for those aged 55 and over, and in particular those aged 65 and over, and that the corresponding labor force potential will be more fully tapped,” says Andreas Christen, Head of Pension Research at Swiss Life Switzerland.

The data is taken from an online survey based on responses from around 1,000 human resources managers working in companies employing at least four people.

Translated from French by DeepL/mga

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