Labor market Employment prospects brighten slightly in Switzerland
In Switzerland, the outlook for employment has improved again slightly. The corresponding indicator from the ETH economic research institute KOF is just in positive territory, supported by the construction industry and the service sector.
03.11.2025, 09:49
SDA
The employment indicator stood at 0.7 points in the fourth quarter, as the institute announced on Monday. In the third quarter of 2025, it was still at -0.6 (revised from +0.3). The increase of 1.3 points was achieved despite the tariff shock.
After a prolonged phase of declining values, the indicator points to a slight improvement in employment prospects for the first time in three years, according to the KOF. Overall, however, the recovery on the labor market remains modest and is due in particular to the construction industry and the service sectors.
Unusually high revision of the previous quarter's figure
According to the KOF, the revision of the value from the previous quarter to this extent (-0.9 points) is unusual. This is due to the fact that the later results from the KOF economic surveys in August and September were weaker than those in July. The import duties imposed by the USA on Swiss goods at the beginning of August are likely to be responsible for this, according to the report. The indicator value for the third quarter originally only included data from July.
According to KOF, the increase in the indicator in October compared to the third quarter suggests that the downward trend has not recently become more pronounced despite the US tariffs, and that the outlook has even brightened slightly.
The evaluations are based on the responses of around 4,500 companies that were surveyed by the KOF in October 2025 on the current employment status and the corresponding outlook.
On balance, the assessment of the current employment status is now slightly positive at +0.6 points, compared to -0.4 points in the third quarter. Expectations for the coming months have also improved from -0.8 points in the previous quarter to +0.8 points. This means that the proportion of companies expecting to increase jobs is again slightly higher than that of companies planning to cut jobs.
No improvement in sight in industry
The picture remains mixed when comparing sectors. The outlook in the manufacturing sector, i.e. traditional industry, remains clearly negative, even though it has recently improved slightly. The outlook in the retail sector also remains negative. The mood in wholesale is clearly gloomier than in retail.
As mentioned above, employment prospects are best in the construction industry and other services.
