Where to find the most AI jobs

The Swiss AI job market is highly competitive. An analysis of 4,703 job advertisements in the new Swiss AI Jobs Report 2025 published by Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in collaboration with the labor market research firm x28 and the Local AI Community LAC shows: With 1,773 positions, a large proportion of the national AI jobs fall to the canton of Zurich. "As the largest business location and tech hub in Switzerland, Zurich is leading the way as expected, partly due to its population density," says co-author of the study Florian Bär from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. However, the demand for AI specialists is also high in smaller cantons such as Geneva and Zug. "If you look at the number of AI jobs per capita, Zug is one of the best in the country," says Bär. One reason for this is the innovation and finance center Crypto Valley, which has made the canton of Zug a leading global blockchain center.

Demanding procedures and high academic requirements

The geographical concentration is intensifying the already intense competition for qualified specialists. According to HR managers from Swiss companies, hundreds of applications are often received for a single position, while vacancies are often closed within a week. The race for the coveted AI jobs demands speed and an excellent profile from applicants. Interested candidates must be prepared for demanding, multi-stage selection procedures, which usually comprise two to four rounds and involve solving technical case studies. Higher academic degrees are often a basic requirement: specialized roles such as that of a data scientist often require a master's degree or even a doctorate.

Specialized professionals are in demand

Companies are focusing their AI recruitment on roles in the areas of data engineering, data science, machine learning and data analysis. This underlines the crucial importance of data as a key value driver in AI systems. This is reflected in the preference for skills such as software development, database engineering, cloud computing, statistical analysis, data visualization and natural language processing. "Demand for workers is particularly high in specialist areas that deal with the development, implementation and management of complex data-driven systems," says Bär. Highly qualified jobs requiring in-depth expertise are emerging in this segment - in contrast to pure user expertise for AI-based tools such as Gemini, ChatGPT or Claude.

IT, finance and research dominate the AI job market

In Switzerland, the demand for AI specialists is mainly driven by three sectors: information technology leads the way with 1,205 jobs, making it the largest employer in this area. This is followed by the financial sector with 552 jobs and the research and education sector with 435 jobs. These three sectors are mainly concentrated in the canton of Zurich and Central Switzerland. There, the five most important sectors - information technology, financial services, research and education, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, and legal and business consulting - account for more than 60 percent of all AI jobs. "It is surprising how strongly the IT sector continues to dominate the AI job market. This shows that the actual development and implementation of AI systems still takes place in the core of the tech industry," says Bär. It will be interesting to see when and how quickly other, non-technological sectors reach the maturity level of IT.

Source: HSLU