The Rothenburg-based company Pistor is growing continuously. The wholesaler no longer supplies only bakeries, but also restaurants and healthcare facilities such as hospitals and retirement homes. In addition, the company provides services such as consulting or billing processing, as well as setting up a digital B2B marketplace.

Pistor: Always more broadly positioned

"We are developing into a broad-based company. We hire a correspondingly large number of qualified personnel," explains HR and ICT Manager Michèle Waeber. In the last year alone, the workforce has grown by ten percent, so that today 616 employees work for the company. But the development is far from over, says Waeber. "We plan to create more than 50 new jobs in the course of this year. This makes us not only one of the most important employers in the canton of Lucerne, but in the whole of central Switzerland."

Combating the shortage of skilled workers with an attractive overall package

Pistor's job expansion is broad-based: Virtually all areas of the company are set to grow. From truck drivers to ICT experts, a wide range of profiles are sought. In order to score points with employees, Pistor offers various benefits. In addition to remuneration in line with the market, these include, for example, flexible working time models with up to nine weeks' vacation, a staff restaurant with discounted menus or offers for physical well-being and leisure experiences. "For job seekers, it's not just the salary that counts these days, but an attractive overall package. Pistor is also characterized by a personal corporate culture. That is why I am convinced that we will continue to be able to fill our vacancies with qualified personnel," says Michèle Waeber.

Source

The Bühler Group held its Annual General Meeting on Friday, February 10, 2023. A new election to the Board of Directors was also on the agenda. Marco Gadola (59), a Swiss and French citizen, was elected. He can look back on a long professional career. Marco Gadola began his career in banking. He later worked for Novartis International Ltd. in Basel as an audit manager. Starting in 1992, he spent nine years with the Hilti Group in management positions in the areas of trading, sales and finance in Liechtenstein, the United States, Spain and Germany. After five years as CFO at the Hero Group, he joined the Straumann Group in Basel as CFO and VP Operations. In 2008, Marco Gadola was appointed CFO of the Panalpina Group in Basel. From 2013 to 2019, he was CEO of the Straumann Group, a listed Swiss company with revenues of over CHF 2 billion.

A wealth of experience

Marco Gadola is Chairman of the Board of Directors of DKSH, Chairman of the Board of Directors of WS Audiology and Medartis Holding AG, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of MCH Group AG and member of the Board of Directors of Straumann Group. Marco Gadola holds a Master in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Basel, Switzerland.

"With this appointment, the Bühler Board of Directors gains an accomplished and proven executive with nearly three decades of experience in various industries in the tools, medical and logistics sectors," says Calvin Grieder, Chairman of the Bühler Board of Directors.

Konrad Hummler resigns

At the same meeting, Konrad Hummler resigned as a member of the Board of Directors of Bühler and of the respective committees on which he served, having reached the statutory limit. Konrad Hummler had been a member of the Board of Directors since 2010. "We thank Konrad Hummler for his foresight and great contribution to our company and wish him all the best for his professional and personal future," says Calvin Grieder.

Source

In a study of the investor app Splint Invest (known among other things also by the TV show "The Lion's Den Switzerland), a small, albeit representative, sample of private investors from German-speaking Switzerland was surveyed. Of the 61 respondents, 56 invested in traditional investments at the time of the survey. First and foremost in ETFs. However, a large proportion of the participants wanted to invest more - 85.7% of the respondents stated this. Preferably in alternative investments. The problem is that there is a lack of access.

This does not mean that investors do not know where they can invest alternatively. Rather, the problem is financial. Access to alternative investments is made more difficult by high investment amounts. Plus: The fact that often only large amounts can be invested means that there are legal requirementswho is allowed to invest in alternative investments. In short, this means that anyone who is not a millionaire will have difficulty finding alternative investments that can actually be used. Yet the need is certainly there. 17% of the interested investors - and thus almost one in five - would like to invest CHF 1,000-2,000 per month in alternative investments. 38.3% would like to invest CHF 250-999 per month. 44.7% would like to invest CHF 50-249 per month.

Legal restrictionsnkings forr private investors

In addition to the financial hurdles, however, there are also obstacles of a legal nature. In Switzerland, alternative investments are regulated by the Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes. Only qualified investors may be used in collective investments (KAG) invest. This also includes private individuals, but only those who are wealthy. These include either investors "who, by virtue of personal education and professional experience or comparable experience in the financial sector, possess[ed] the knowledge necessary to understand the risks of the investments" and at the same time have assets of at least 500,000 Swiss francs. Or investors who have assets of at least 5 million Swiss francs.

In demand are investment möOpportunities in Private Equity & Venture Capital Funds

The figures from the survey show: The willingness to invest is there. However, the majority of respondents do not want to invest more than CHF 50 to 999 per month in alternative investments. "Investors are particularly interested in investing in private equity and venture capital funds," says Mario von Bergen, Head of Investments and Co-Founder of Splint Invest. "But a majority of respondents would also like to invest in established companies or in startups. But this is hardly possible with amounts below CHF 1000 per month."

Due to the fact that there are both legal and financial limits on which products may be offered to retail investors, there are always companies within the industry that set up constructs in order to be able to offer alternative investments. This is a logical consequence of the increasing demand for alternative investments among retail investors. The problem is that these constructs often involve unnecessary counterparty risks and often do not allow direct investments but only investments via certificates or similar products.

Another difficulty is that, because some alternative investments cannot be offered to retail investors, retail investors are forced to switch to higher-risk products. The goal of protecting retail investors is therefore not achieved.

What woulds discouraging private investors from investing in alternative assets?

Private investors would like to invest in alternative investments - at least according to the respondents. But they don't. Firstly, because retail investors want to invest on a monthly basis, as they are still in the phase of building up capital. One-off investments in large amounts are therefore not optimal. For another, retail investors want to achieve adequate diversification. But this is only possible if they can invest in several alternative investments - which again means enormous financial pressure.

Several alternative investments in small amounts would be optimal. In this way, private investors could invest their money in a broadly diversified manner and at the same time regularly invest small amounts. In this way, assets are built up piece by piece over the long term. The option to exit should be available at any time. For example, if the private financial situation changes.

New MöOpportunities forr Retail investors

The figures of the Splint Invest survey speak a clear language. But how can the problems of retail investors be solved? Aurelio Perucca, CEO and Co-Founder of Splint Invest, has two suggestions: "Revising the laws or unblocking the products for retail investors would be a first step. Also, increased regulation at the provider level would provide more certainty, while less to no regulation at the product level would allow more opportunities." This approach would also alleviate the issues surrounding the regulation of cryptocurrencies, Perucca says.

Until that happens, private investors from Switzerland will lack access to alternative investments. Although solutions to the dilemma are already being worked on. Von Bergen and Perucca have created a tool with their app Splint Invest that allows investors to make monthly investments in amounts starting at 50 euros. The focus is on luxury items, such as rare whiskey or limited edition handbags, which are purchased and stored safely through Splint Invest. The investors share the costs for the respective luxury items among themselves. And jointly profit from the accrued return.

Source and further information: Splint Invest

Guido Schilling is completing the generational change in his company: In the future, his executive search firm schillingpartners will be managed by the longstanding partners. However, he himself will remain with the company as Chairman of the Board of Directors and will focus on filling board and senior management positions. The role of Managing Partner will be taken over by Malte Müller, who has been with the firm for 10 years and heads the Industry/Energy practice. Like Müller, the other partners will also concentrate on an industry focus, applying their expertise on behalf of clients.

More than 30 years experience

Guido Schilling has been active in executive search for over 30 years and established schillingpartners as one of the leading executive search companies in Switzerland. Systematic, reliable and goal-oriented, the headhunters find the right executives at the highest management level for SMEs and large companies. In 2019, Guido Schilling started the succession process with the partners to sustainably position the company for the future. The majority of schillingpartners' shares are now in the hands of the new generation. Guido Schilling comments on this milestone as follows: "It fills me with joy and pride to have found an excellent solution for the future of schillingpartners and its employees together with the long-standing partners. I will stand by the partners with advice and support in the realization of their business plans."

Ambitious goals

schillingpartners has set itself ambitious goals for the future after the generation change. "We want to be the number 1 for filling top positions in Switzerland," Malte Müller explains the company's vision. "To achieve this, we will continue to expand the team and are especially looking for strong consultants who share our quality standards and deliver the maximum performance for our clients every day."

The company currently employs around 30 people. The consultants specialize in individual focus areas, ranging from industry, IT technology, financial services, healthcare and life sciences to consumer goods, energy, real estate and the public sector. Internationally, the firm is affiliated with IMD Search Group with offices in 25 countries on four continents.

Source: www.schillingpartners.ch

The threat of climate change continues to grow, and with each passing year it seems more real. All over the world, people are stepping up their efforts to mitigate or even prevent this looming catastrophe. Even in times of economic or energy crises, climate change does not lose importance in many considerations. The industrialized countries in particular cause a large percentage of the CO2 gases that are considered harmful. In a global comparison, not only factories or the manufacturing industry are responsible, but also classic office buildings. Computers, telephones and printers consume a lot of electricity. However, quite a bit of energy can be saved here, for example with appropriate economy modes on the devices or the general reduction of consumables. "New devices usually come up trumps with a better eco-balance and thus bring along oodles of savings potential. Even a complete switch from laser printers to inkjet printers can cut the emissions generated during the printing process by almost half," explains Tanja Schmidt, Managing Director of igreeen solution GmbH and expert for technical office equipment.

Possible step towards climate neutrality?

Sustainability as a core issue has long since reached all industries. Increasing demands from customers, employees and politicians are ensuring that companies make themselves and their processes more climate-friendly. In this context, Germany, for example, has set itself the goal of reducing the greenhouse gases it produces by 80 to 90 percent by 2050 compared with 1990 levels. With this overarching goal of net zero, the German government wants to achieve its environmental targets and come a big step closer to the planned climate neutrality in the wake of the 1.5-degree target. However, this requires a strict compensation policy as well as a steady reduction in energy consumption. Schmidt clarifies: "Ongoing sustainability efforts by companies, such as the switch to more economical and healthier equipment, make a decisive contribution here. At around a quarter of total consumption, electrical appliances in the home and office do not prove to be the biggest consumers of electricity, but the increasing ownership of a wide variety of devices means that individual consumption must nevertheless be drastically reduced. Economical inkjet printers can quickly reduce demand by a large proportion."

Efficient device management

At first glance, the move to more sustainable printing appears to have little direct impact on the path to climate neutrality and the future of the planet. But according to estimates, printers of all kinds alone cause almost 2.5 tons of CO2 and consume around 4,500 gigawatt hours of electricity per year (Source: https://epsonemear.a.bigcontent.io/v1/static/Epson-HeatFreeReport-German_final). Based on precise data, researchers can state that inkjet printers are approximately 90 percent more efficient than laser printers. According to a study by Epson and the University of Cambridge, there is thus the possibility of saving up to 1.3 million tons of CO2. "This shows that net zero by 2050 in terms of printers is definitely possible if energy-efficient technology is used more in homes as well as businesses. Some manufacturers are even already working here with special printing processes that manage completely without heat. This reduces the power consumption required and at the same time also the greenhouse gas emissions that are produced," says Schmidt. By switching to modern inkjet printers, private individuals and companies can significantly reduce their CO2 emissions and make a decisive contribution to the fight against climate change.

Source: www.igreeen.de

Manual and paper-based forms of invoicing are increasingly being replaced by electronic and digital methods. These enable processes to be simpler, more accurate and more sustainable. This is the conclusion of a joint study by SIX and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, which examined the future of accounting.

Invoices worth over 8 trillion Swiss francs

In Switzerland, 1.27 billion payment transactions with a total volume of CHF 8.09 trillion were processed in 2021. This is more than ten times the country's gross domestic product. This number will continue to grow in the coming years, as all common forms of billing in the country have shown increasing transaction numbers in recent years, according to the study. As a result, the need for automated, digital and sustainable forms of invoicing is also increasing, it added.

The future of accounting lies in eBill

The use of eBill clearly shows this trend, the study authors continue. At present, eBill is the only end-to-end digital form of invoicing in Switzerland. Between 2020 and 2021, transactions via eBill increased by around 27% to over 50 million. Thus, in 2021, 83% of all payments were triggered electronically and already over 4000 companies use eBill for invoicing. At the end of 2022, over 2.7 million users were registered with eBill and, according to a representative survey, seven out of ten study participants use the solution to pay bills.

Sustainability as a driver

In addition to automation and digitization, the issue of sustainability is another important driver of development. The use of eBill allows a reduction in CO2 emissions of around 82% compared to paper-based invoices, the study calculates. According to the forecast, by 2028, 80% of all invoices in Switzerland are expected to be processed with eBill. According to an analysis by carbon-connect AG, an emissions reduction of up to 66% can be achieved as a result. In the context of this change, the QR bill ensures that previous manual and analog forms as well as needs in invoicing will continue to be covered.

Source: SIX

In the wake of the Corona crisis, automation, digitization and digital transformation have become increasingly important as strategic points for many companies. The rapidly growing market and the great demand for solutions have led Canon Switzerland to focus even more strongly on its solutions business in order to be able to respond better to the individual needs of customers together with its partners.

With the implementation of a strategic, dedicated and cross-company solutions division, Canon is taking an important step to further strengthen the company's position as a player in a fast-growing market, and to push and further expand its business, according to a statement. The new solutions division is headed by Michael Maunz, who also holds the role of Head of Professional Service. "The trend towards hybrid and flexible working has been emerging for a long time. We are no longer talking about a trend here. If hybrid or remote working is to function smoothly, companies need to be provided with the right hardware as well as the right software solutions - and ideally everything from a single source," explains Michael Maunz.

Together with its partners, Canon says it has the industry know-how and a broad portfolio of solutions to offer customers from the various segments customized solutions and thus ensure a smooth end-to-end process. "We have made it our goal to accompany our customers on their digitalization journey with end-to-end solutions and services. In doing so, we support them in the optimization and automation of processes and workflows," says Michael Maunz.

Michael Maunz joined Canon Switzerland in 2018 as Professional Service Manager and has more than 20 years of experience in the IT industry. He is a proven expert and has an in-depth knowledge of the solutions business and the needs of customers. He brings many years of management and leadership experience in support, delivery and sales. "We are pleased to be able to drive the solutions business forward under the leadership of Michael Maunz and to be able to increasingly address the needs of our customers," comments Markus Naegeli, CEO Canon (Schweiz) AG.

Source: Canon Switzerland

After the one-off special edition Swissbau Compact in May 2022 due to the pandemic, Swissbau will return with new formats and in its old size from Tuesday, 16 to Friday, 19 January 2024, according to Swiss Exhibition MCH. Around 800 exhibitors and partners are expected, as well as more than 80,000 visitors. As a multi-sector exhibition, Swissbau 2024 brings together decision-makers from the planning, construction and real estate sectors and promotes mutual exchange and collaboration. The Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects SIA and Bauen digital Schweiz / Building Smart Switzerland are represented as Leading Partners.

Swissbau 2024 sees itself as an interdisciplinary platform for architecture, planning and crafts, the real estate industry as well as owners and investors. The motto of the next trade fair is "Shaping change together". Innovations and solutions will be presented, discussed and developed - with the aim of meeting the social challenges surrounding globalization, digitalization and climate change as an industry, according to a statement.

New and proven formats at Swissbau 2024

With Swissbau City, a new trade fair concept with marketplaces and a wide range of presence options awaits the approximately 800 exhibitors. The three marketplaces are located in the thematic areas "Shell + Building Envelope", "Building Technology" and "Interior Construction". They offer the various interest groups a specific meeting point at Swissbau 2024. Around each marketplace are the so-called all-in counters, which exhibitors can use for their individual presentations. Each marketplace also offers catering facilities and a Speakers Corner for presentations and pitches.

The two collaboration platforms Swissbau Focus and Swissbau Lab are also to be brought even closer together in terms of content at Swissbau 2024, as MCH announces. The focus will be on imparting knowledge, with "discussing" (Focus) and "trying out" (Lab) being important cornerstones. Topics such as climate, energy, the circular economy, materials, collaboration and society will be highlighted.

With the new format Swissbau Inside in Hall 2.1, the trade fair is creating for the first time a platform all about interiors. Swissbau Inside offers suppliers of design products a stage for productions from the areas of kitchen, floor/wall/ceiling, lighting as well as office and contract furnishings. The Trend World Bathroom remains an integral part of Swissbau. Leading brands will be showing the latest products, concepts and designs for the bathroom of the future in Hall 2.2.

Needs-based offers for exhibitors

Anyone wishing to be present at Swissbau 2024 can choose from a wide range of participation options. The offers are deliberately modular so that exhibitors can plan their appearances individually and in line with their needs. For example, a presence over all four days of the trade fair is no longer mandatory. Instead, various offers can be booked by the day or even by the hour, for example for a customer aperitif. For exhibitors who want to give their innovation an additional boost, there is also a choice of a second appearance in the form of an innovation pitch or a presentation at a marketplace.

All participation opportunities are available at Swissbau Website to find.

On behalf of onlyfy by XING (formerly XING E-Recruiting, a NEW WORK SE company), the market and media research institute Forsa surveyed over a thousand professionals in German-speaking Switzerland at the start of the year about their professional situation and plans for 2023. The most important finding: The "desire for variety" is fueling Swiss professionals' willingness to change jobs.

Willingness to switch in Switzerland: The trend continues to point upward

The willingness of professionals in Switzerland to change employer remains high and has tended to increase slightly compared with the previous year. A total of 60 percent of respondents can imagine changing their employer in 2023, the highest figure to date. Of these, 16 percent already have concrete plans to change and 44 percent are open to a change without having already taken steps to do so.

In 2018, the willingness of Swiss professionals to switch was still at 51 percent, but since then the trend has been upward and is now around one-fifth higher. At 72 percent, the willingness to switch is particularly high in the youngest age segment of 18- to 29-year-olds and at 73 percent among 30- to 39-year-olds. In the 40 to 49 age segment, a good half (56 percent) are still open to switching, while the figure for the over-50s is slightly less than half at 44 percent. Compared with Germany, the willingness to switch is significantly higher in this country. In our neighbor to the north, 37 percent are open to a career change.

Willingness to switch increases despite high satisfaction

While the willingness to change jobs has increased over the past few years, satisfaction with the current job has remained at a consistently high level. According to the latest figures, 84 percent of professionals are somewhat or very satisfied with their job. This is the same number as in 2018. Accordingly, the data do not suggest that the increase in willingness to change jobs in recent years was triggered by a decline in satisfaction. Among young professionals between the ages of 18 and 29, the share of those who are very or somewhat satisfied is slightly lower at 79 percent. Full-time and part-time employees are virtually equally satisfied, at 83 percent and 85 percent respectively.

"Desire for something new" at mid-career most important motivator for change

When looking at the reasons for a possible change, the top reason (41 percent) is that the salary is too low. In second place, at 32 percent, is a general desire for variety in working life. A too high stress level is in third place (30 percent), followed by dissatisfaction with the direct manager (26 percent) and a lack of promotion opportunities (23 percent). The desire for variety is particularly pronounced in mid-career. At 41 percent, the "general desire for variety" among 40- to 49-year-olds is the main driver for the willingness to change jobs. For companies, this means that they can promote the loyalty of their employees to the company by creating targeted opportunities for a varied career structure.

Cohesion among colleagues important criterion for job choice

A higher salary also tops the list of wishes for a potential new employer, at 57 percent. At 56 percent, good team spirit among colleagues is practically equally important for Swiss professionals. In third place, with 53 percent, is the ability to flexibly organize one's working hours. This means that work culture factors have practically the same importance as monetary aspects when looking for a new employer.

Meaningfulness and good corporate culture become more important with age

There are clear differences between the age groups when it comes to the criterion of meaningfulness. While 33 percent of the youngest age group (18 to 29 years) attach importance to a meaningful job, this figure is 51 percent for 30 to 49 year-olds and 56 percent for those over 50. The situation is similar when it comes to corporate culture. This is an important factor for 38 percent of young employees. Among 30 to 49-year-olds, 45 percent attach importance to a good corporate culture, and among the over-50s, the figure is 53 percent. According to the data collected, the high value placed on work culture and meaningfulness is therefore not primarily an issue for younger generations, but an aspiration that can be found in all age groups.

Source: onlyfy by XING

Triggers of low morale and unsatisfactory results are often found in a leader's feedback culture. If team members only receive feedback on their work to date during the famous annual review, criticism about inadequate performance hits them particularly hard. Clear areas of responsibility and accountability are lacking here. A results-oriented assignment of tasks (EOA) establishes both. The following thought experiment illustrates how it does this.

Hit the bullseye

A female archer is given the task of shooting a bull's eye. Thus, her task is to fire arrows. She sets herself the goal of hitting the center of the target. If the archer pursues her endeavor with perseverance and focus, she achieves the result that the arrow is stuck in the center of the target.

With this scenario in mind, it quickly becomes clear why working through tasks has little effect. If arrows whirr through the air without an end point, they land meaninglessly on the ground. Setting clear intentions, on the other hand, brings visibility to achievements. If employees know how their performance will be judged, they can tell early on whether they are on the right track.

Thought is half done

The distinction between goal and result seems small, but a change in thinking leads to smooth workflows. Most often, people formulate their goals in the future tense: "I'm going to shoot the arrow in the bull's eye." With a results orientation, however, the person goes on a mental journey to the point in time when he/she has delivered the desired result: "The arrow is in the bull's eye." If employees only look at the goal that is in the far distance, the path to get there seems arduous and riddled with difficulties. In contrast, teams in which all participants have already reached the end of the journey in their minds generate a kind of pull. In joyful anticipation of feelings of success, members develop solutions out of their own motivation in order to circumvent unexpected obstacles. In our understanding, being results-oriented means "focusing on the part of the results I can influence and becoming the best I can be there."

Three letters with great effect

Leaders record all of these findings in a comprehensible results-oriented task description that is accepted by the other person. In this description, managers record which measurable result is considered achievable in which period of time for precisely this person. If the end lies in the distant future, intermediate steps serve as small motivational boosters along the way. Formulated areas of responsibility reveal potential overlaps. Planners can also identify gaps and use the opportunity to close them ahead of time. Another advantage is that, in the event of vacation or sickness, those helping out have access to a detailed list of the status and next steps of the project.

Author:
Boris Grundl is the founder of the Grundl Leadership Institute. With face-to-face and online seminars, books and a training platform, the GLI, which employs a good 20 people, provides further training and bundles scientifically validated findings on the topic of responsibility in the "Responsibility Index". More at www.grundl-institut.de and www.verantwortungsindex.de or also here.

Historically low unemployment, reluctance to change jobs and increasing localization of production are exacerbating the shortage of skilled labor and the search for qualified employees. For these reasons, employers must be willing to pay high wages for the best candidates. They must also encourage new employees and offer wage increases to existing employees who are most affected by inflation.

Inflation boosts wage expectations

The study shows that executives and senior managers in the banking and financial services sector receive the highest wages. The five positions with the highest wages are:

The study also shows that the salary expectations of candidates and employees are rising. These increased expectations are mainly due to inflation. This shows the need for wage increases for the lower wage brackets, which are most affected by inflation. Yannick Coulange, Managing Director of PageGroup Switzerland, says: "Wage increases at the lower end of the pay band send a strong message about a company's values."

Where wages rise the most

The job categories with the largest pay increases are positions in IT (+5 to +10 %), engineering (+5 %), and financial accounting (+3 to +5 %). In IT, wage increases were most notable in developers / DevOps and cybersecurity. In other occupations, the increase was strongest at the lower and middle management levels, where demand was greatest.

The study forecasts a positive outlook for the Swiss labor market in 2023 as well, despite concerns about a European recession. In Switzerland, the number of advertised jobs increased by 8.5 % between December 2021 and December 2022. The categories with the largest growth between December 2022 and January 2023 are insurance (+5.0 %), skilled trades (+4.0 %), and information technology (+3.7 %).

Further training and development opportunities are of great importance

According to the study, the most important benefits for attracting employees are retention and opportunities for further training and development. 70 % of candidates indicated that this was an important factor in choosing their employer. Yet, only half of employees said this issue was addressed during the recruiting process. In addition, the most frequently cited reason for quitting is the lack of professional development opportunities.

Source: Michael Page

After the Covid 19 pandemic made it very clear what digitization can do, the challenging aspects of "pure digital" are now also becoming apparent. While euphoria prevailed in part in last year's edition of the Mobiliar DigitalBarometer, the current 2023 results show that the Swiss still rate digitization positively overall, but at 44 % somewhat lower than in the previous survey (see 54% 2022). In addition to the topics "Digital data," "Digital opinion forming," "Cybersecurity," "Future of education" and "Metaverse," "Future of work" is a focal point. The most important findings of the Mobiliar DigitalBarometer 2023 study are summarized below.

Digital balance: THE challenge for the future

The study shows that employees are highly willing to change. Employers have a responsibility in this regard: Specifically, 50% of all Swiss employees stated that they wanted to adapt their own behavior to the changing world of work, for example with further training. Just under three quarters of respondents see the responsibility for adapting the working world(s) to the development of digitization as lying with employers.

Another finding is the need for digital balance: In times of advancing digitization, the desire for "offline" in private and professional life is very great. Almost half of all respondents would like to be offline more often in their day-to-day work (digitally unreachable, more analog contacts). For the private context, as many as 70 % express this need.

Metaverse largely unknown

62 % of all respondents have never heard of the metaverse or have no idea what the metaverse is. So it seems that here a term is currently overrated by the media.

However, attitudes toward digital health data have increased. Last year, only around a quarter of the Swiss population saw the use of health data as an opportunity for society. This year, the figure was already 38 %.

The DigitalBarometer also shows a downside to digitization: For example, the digital discussion culture is still perceived as a major threat: 54% of respondents see it this way. 73 % of respondents state that they themselves are responsible on this issue. Target group-specific measures are needed to enable reflective information and communication in the digital space.

Between automation worries and flexibility euphoria

The respondents see working independently of location and time as a clear opportunity. As in the previous year, however, there is a high degree of ambivalence on the subject of automation. There are also clear differences depending on the industry in which the respondents work. For example, significantly fewer opportunities from digitization are seen in manual occupations, such as construction, agriculture and forestry, or in trade and transport than in other sectors. There are also significant differences in the perception of opportunities between people with a high level of education and those with a lower level of education. It seems important to address the possibilities of the new world of work and to identify different industry-specific options. While location-independent working is not possible for all industries, new leadership skills, for example, may become more important in the industries mentioned above. At the moment, this raises questions about which skills will be needed in the future and which jobs will continue to exist or change and how. What would it mean if certain jobs were (partially) automated?

Caution against individualization trend in continuing education

Just under half of those surveyed in the DigitalBarometer (45 %) associate opportunities with personalization and individualization of training. Fifty % also see opportunities in time- and location-independent learning. In contrast, education experts stress the need to exercise caution and not to forget the relevance of social interaction. They recommend thinking carefully about which learning processes should take place in groups or be supported by teachers on site, and which can also be carried out online at one's own pace. The qualitative interviews conducted by the study authors revealed a discrepancy between the needs of young adults in initial education and the recommendations of experts. While young people strongly praise the advantages of location- and time-independent training and in some cases see hardly any advantages in face-to-face instruction, experts point out the dangers of this development. While it seems to make sense to offer certain learning modules online and to support independent learning, it remains important to maintain physical exchanges.

Sources and further information: www.risiko-dialog.ch