Labor market Employment in the industrial sector increases slightly after a dry spell
Employment in Switzerland continued to rise in the first quarter of 2026. The number of job vacancies also increased again, while the outlook on the labor market remains positive.
28.05.2026, 09:05
SDA
Employment in Switzerland increased in the first quarter of 2026 compared to both the previous year and the final quarter of 2025. The industrial sector recorded a slight upward trend following a recent downward trend. Overall, the employment outlook is now assessed as positive.
In the months from January to March, the number of people employed in Switzerland grew by a total of 0.5% to 5.537 million over the course of the year, according to the employment barometer published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Thursday. And compared to the previous quarter, employment increased by 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Employment growth was driven by the service sector. According to the figures, the number of people employed in this sector increased by 0.6% to 4.409 million compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In the second sector, i.e. industry and construction, growth was lower at 0.1% to 1.129 million employees. However, industry has recently been confronted with a reduction in employment.
More job vacancies
The decline in the number of job vacancies in previous quarters was also slowed: companies reported a total of 98,200 job vacancies in the first quarter. Compared to the previous year, this represents an increase of 4,700 jobs or 5.0 percent, according to the report.
Both the second sector (+6.8 percent) and the third sector of services (+4.5 percent) recorded more vacancies, according to the FSO. Measured in terms of all jobs, the rate of job vacancies was 1.7 percent in total, 1.9 percent in the second sector and 1.7 percent in the third sector.
Positive outlook
According to the FSO, the difficulties in recruiting specialists have decreased compared to the previous quarter. Weighted by the number of employees, 34.3% of companies reported difficulties in recruiting qualified workers. This is a decrease of 2 percentage points compared to the previous quarter. The situation has eased for both the second and third sectors.
Meanwhile, short-term employment prospects continued to develop positively, according to the FSO. The proportion of companies planning to increase staff rose slightly compared to the previous quarter to 10.1%, while those considering a reduction fell slightly to 5.2%. The indicator for employment prospects thus rose slightly to 1.03.
