(26.04.2023) The job market remains robust in Switzerland: there is a 4% increase in the Swiss Job Market Index for the first quarter of 2023 compared to last year. According to the study published by Adecco Group and the University of Zurich, the chances of landing a job are correlated with proficiency in several languages.
Although the number of job vacancies has slightly decreased in Q1 2023 compared to Q4 2022 (-1%), the job market remains at a high level in Switzerland, despite a mixed global economy. According to Yanik Kipfer, Swiss job market monitor at Adecco, "the mild winter played a decisive role in avoiding an energy crisis and the economic collapse that would have followed. As a result, the demand for labor remained stable overall."
People with extensive language skills seem to have an advantage. According to the report's authors, nearly 87% of job postings mention knowledge of German – either implicitly (ads written in German) or explicitly (ads written in another language but mentioning German as a prerequisite or asset) – 32% indicate English, 23% French, and 4% Italian.
However, language skill requirements differ depending on the region and sector of activity. In French-speaking Switzerland, nearly half of the job offers in the "Technical Specialists" (49%), "Office and Administration Specialists" (48%), and "University Professions in Economics and Social Sciences" (45%) categories require knowledge of German.
In German-speaking Switzerland, French remains relatively less in demand. It is required in 30% of job ads for "Office and Administration Specialists" and 22% for management positions. Proficiency in English remains the most important: over half of the ads for management positions (55%) and 46% of ads in the "University Professions in Economics and Social Sciences" require it.
Nationwide and across all sectors, two-thirds (64%) of job offers only mention one language, while 36% require two or more.
Last modification 26.04.2023
