Skills shortage continues to decline noticeably

After two unusually strong years, the Swiss labor market had already returned to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels by 2024, but the situation is set to deteriorate noticeably again in 2025. Accordingly, the shortage of skilled workers is declining for the second year in a row due to the economic slowdown. This is shown by the latest Swiss Skilled Labor Shortage Index, a study conducted by the Adecco Group Switzerland and the Swiss Job Market Monitor (SMM) at the University of Zurich. In 2025, the Skilled Labor Shortage Index is around 22 percent below the previous year's figure, bringing it back to pre-pandemic levels.

According to the study, the decline in the shortage of skilled workers is reflected in the falling number of job vacancies (-8 %) on the one hand and an increase in job seekers (+17 %) on the other compared with the previous year. The unemployment rate will rise from 2.3% in 2024 to 2.8% in 2025. Marcel Keller, Country President of the Adecco Group Switzerland, comments on the findings as follows: «After the Swiss labor market had already lost momentum in 2024, it will cool down significantly again in 2025. Weak export demand, subdued investment, and economic uncertainties are dampening employment momentum, while private consumption is having a stabilizing effect. At the same time, the increased use of AI is already changing the world of work: jobs that are more exposed to AI are seeing fewer job postings and higher unemployment.»

Skilled labor shortages exist in only a few occupational groups

In 2025, only 4 of the 32 occupational groups will still be affected by the shortage of skilled workers. The top positions in the skilled worker shortage ranking will remain largely stable:

• Rank 1: Specialists in healthcare professions (e.g., medical specialists, nurses, or pharmacists) continue to lead the way, partly due to the aging population.
• Rank 2: Construction supervisors, foremen, and production managers (e.g., site managers, painters' foremen, mechanical engineering managers, or electrical engineers) remain in second place, thanks to increased staffing requirements in the construction industry due to a robust order situation.
• Rank 3: Engineering and comparable skilled workers (e.g., mechanical engineers, technicians in the fields of systems engineering, automation, and business processes) will move up one position to third place in 2025, despite the challenging business situation in the MEM industry due to weak export demand.
• Rank 4: Electricians and electronics technicians (e.g., electrical fitters, electrical mechanics, or customer service technicians) follow in fourth place. Demand is likely to be driven largely by the healthy order situation in the construction industry.

One reason for the healthcare sector's continued leading position can be found in demographic change. The aging population and increased life expectancy are driving up the demand for skilled workers in the healthcare and nursing sectors. Accordingly, the occupational group of healthcare assistants, such as healthcare and nursing professionals or emergency medical services personnel, is continuing to move toward a shortage of skilled workers compared to the previous year. Nevertheless, both occupational groups are recording slightly fewer vacancies per job seeker compared to the previous year, which is likely due to ongoing cost pressures in the healthcare sector.

Most significant declines in AI-exposed office, ICT, and finance occupations

The sharpest declines in the number of job vacancies per job seeker are in office, administrative, and commercial professions, as well as ICT and IT professions, particularly commercial and administrative professionals (-7 ranks; e.g., social administration and insurance specialists or police commissioners and criminal investigators) and information and communication technicians (-6 ranks; e.g., computer network and systems technicians or webmasters). Such occupational groups are particularly strongly influenced by developments surrounding AI and are therefore likely to be more affected by falling job numbers and rising unemployment.

Construction industry remains stable

While most occupational groups are seeing fewer job vacancies, three groups are showing a stable ratio of vacancies to job seekers: operators of stationary equipment and machines & assembly occupations (e.g., machine operators, equipment assemblers, or plant assemblers), vehicle drivers and operators of mobile equipment (e.g., operators of earth-moving and related machinery, road construction and construction machinery operators, or heavy truck drivers) and construction and finishing trades (e.g., carpenters, roofers, floor and tile layers, building plumbers, and plumbing and heating installers). All of these occupational groups are closely linked to the construction industry, which, according to industry reports, is increasingly suffering from a shortage of skilled workers.

Source: Adecco Group