Job placement Swiss labor market cools according to study
The mood on the Swiss labor market is cooling.
11.06.2025, 08:49
SDA
A study by recruitment agency Manpower shows that local companies are being much more cautious in their recruitment plans for the third quarter of 2025 than they were a year ago due to trade policy uncertainties. At the same time, many companies are investing more in automation.
According to the study published on Wednesday, the companies surveyed expect a net employment outlook (NEO) of 24% for the third quarter. This represents a decline of 2 percentage points compared to the previous quarter and even 10 percentage points compared to the previous year.
The net employment outlook is calculated from the proportion of companies that expect an increase in employment minus those that forecast a decline in employment. This means that 38% are still planning to hire new staff and only 14% expect to reduce their workforce.
Regional differences
Switzerland continues to perform well in an international comparison: with the 24% mentioned above, it is above the EMEA average of 19% and ahead of neighboring countries Germany (20%), France and Italy (16% each) and Austria (12%).
Hiring intentions vary depending on the Swiss region. Ticino and Zurich, for example, have the highest employment forecasts of the 7 regions with a NEO of 30%. While Ticino recorded a significant year-on-year increase of 45 percentage points according to the study, the value in Zurich fell by 18 percentage points compared to the previous year.
Trend towards automation
According to the Manpower survey, a critical factor influencing the Swiss labor market is the uncertainty in global trade: at the time of the survey (April 2025), 62% of employers stated that trade-related fluctuations were already having a moderate to significant impact on their recruitment decisions.
As the study also shows, automation is becoming a central component of HR strategy. More than half of Swiss companies are planning to increase their investments in this area. IT and data professions are particularly affected, with 76% of companies expecting significant or moderate changes as a result of advances in AI and data analysis. The majority also expect noticeable effects in logistics and production.
