The Swiss labour force is highly mobile
Switzerland is an attractive labour market – yet even so, two-thirds of all Swiss workers would like to work abroad. The favourite destinations are the USA, Australia and Canada. Many would even be prepared to work abroad for more than five years. But Switzerland itself is also an attractive place to work: workers from our neighbouring countries in particular as well as Americans, British and Swedes would be interested in working in Switzerland.
How many people want to move abroad for work? What are the favourite destinations on the international labour market? Why are more and more people interested in working abroad? In their Global Talent Mobility Study jobs.ch and “The Network”, a global alliance of leading online jobsites, investigated these and other questions surrounding mobility on the labour market.
Working abroad is catching on
The results of this study, which is unique globally, are astonishing: as many as 37 percent of Swiss workers questioned would be prepared to move abroad for work reasons right away; 29 percent would at least consider working abroad, and 42 percent would be prepared to stay abroad for over 5 years. The main motive for moving to a foreign country, cited by 60 percent of respondents, is to expand professional horizons and gain new experience. The attraction of taking on a new challenge (43 percent) and learning about other countries and cultures (42 percent) were also important motives, and 56 percent said they would be prepared to move for their jobs within Switzerland.
If Swiss workers move abroad, they attach great importance to doing so on a stable footing: a large majority – 80 percent – would want to have a permanent contract if they worked abroad. Companies, too, can benefit from employees’ wanderlust: if they offer their staff the chance of working abroad, they can increase their appeal significantly. It is therefore no coincidence that many of the internationally active Swiss companies from the pharmaceutical and banking industries are among the most popular employers in Switzerland.
Swiss workers have clear favourites in terms of their destinations. The frontrunners are the United States (50 percent), followed by Australia (43 percent) and Canada (38 percent). The cities are led by New York (21 percent), ahead of London (17 percent) and Sydney (12 percent). Many of the favourite destinations are therefore traditional magnets for emigrants. Moreover, the English-speaking countries are also likely to be a popular destination for working abroad because of the comparatively low language barriers.
Jobs in Switzerland are also very popular
The figure for workers from abroad who would consider working in Switzerland is even higher than for the reverse question at 81 percent. Germans, French, Italians and Austrians in particular, but also Americans, British and Swedes would all like to work in Switzerland. Like the Swiss, they too are mostly looking for a permanent contract (76 percent), and seeking to expand their professional horizons. Staff from the areas “Sales”, “IT/ICT/Automation” and “Engineering & Technology” are particularly keen to come to Switzerland, an indication of the fact that Switzerland remains an attractive labour market for both information technology and the manufacture of high-quality engineering components.
Among the respondents who would like to work in Switzerland, the English-speaking countries are also very popular and are therefore in direct competition with the Swiss labour market. The favourite destinations are the UK (63 percent), the United States (61 percent) and Canada (54 percent).
Vigorous competition on the international jobs market
The high mobility on the international jobs market also has repercussions for workers in Switzerland, as Micol Rezzonico, who is responsible for communications at jobs.ch, explains: “Due to the attractiveness of its labour market Switzerland continues to draw in a large number of highly qualified workers. Swiss workers therefore have to keep training and upskilling continuously in order to remain competitive in an international comparison.” The results of the study show that companies, too, have to actively address the issue of international recruitment if they want to bypass the shortage of qualified staff in Switzerland and fill their vacancies with the best candidates.
In this context the importance of online job portals cannot be overstated. Out of all Swiss workers who took part in the survey, 50 percent already use online job portals when looking for a job. Among people living abroad who want to find a job in Switzerland, this figure is as high as 86 percent and is therefore the most important method by far of finding a job internationally. Its close links with “The Network” and its market-leading position, enable jobs.ch to make good use of this trend. The insights from the Global Talent Mobility Study confirm these expectations. The results of the study are also accessible online in the Global Talent Barometer at http://www.globaltalentbarometer.com/jobs-ch.
About jobs.ch
jobs.ch is Switzerland’s leading online recruitment company for job seekers and employers from all sectors. jobs.ch operates vertical sector platforms in the segments specialist staff and executives (www.topjobs.ch), finance and banking (www.jobs4finance.ch), ICT (www.ictcareer.ch), sales (www.jobs4sales.ch), engineering (www.ingjobs.ch) and healthcare (www.medtalents.ch). The company was founded in 2000 and currently employs more than 100 staff in Zurich and Lausanne. In its anniversary year 2010 jobs.ch posted an order volume of CHF 36 million.
About “The Network”
jobs.ch is a founding member of the global alliance of leading online job sites. “The Network” comprises 49 job sites with a market-leading position in 130 countries.
About the Global Talent Mobility Study
The Global Talent Mobility Study was a survey of the issue of professional mobility conducted worldwide by jobs.ch in conjunction with “The Network” and the market research company “The Intelligence Group”. The survey was carried out for the third time this year after the previous 2 surveys in 2006 and 2009. While 21,000 people took part in the first survey in 2006, between June and September 2011 over 166,000 people from 66 countries completed the questionnaire – in Switzerland over 4,000 people took part in the survey on jobs.ch.
Media contact
Bianca Strasser
jobs.ch ag
Assistant Communications
Tel. 044 254 69 47
bianca.strasser@jobs.ch
www.jobs.ch/en/media