Switzerland and the Global Skills Gap Challenge

Written By Richard Knapp

Many countries have a growing skills gap in key industries, and despite its relatively healthy position, the Swiss labour market faces emerging threats which are projected to grow significantly by 2030.

And while it has often been regarded as an economy that balances both practical and academic skillsets, Switzerland offers a glimpse into the difficulties for many world economies over the next five years.

As a 2025 Deloitte report suggests:

The technological and digital sectors face a serious shortfall of employees with the necessary specialist expertise and soft skills, exacerbating more general labour shortages. These skills gaps are a major challenge for businesses: the world of work is being digitalised at an ever more rapid pace, so demand for the requisite skills is growing all the time. The OECD forecasts the working-age population reduction will create half a million labour shortages in healthcare, high-tech and construction sectors by 2030 unless changes are made. (Deloitte, Feb 2025)

 

Adecco’s Swiss Skills Shortage Index indicates that after some easing in 2020–21, skills shortages increased by 69% in 2022 (after COVID disruptions) and peaked at an all-time high as businesses encountered significant difficulties filling available positions. And while this eased somewhat in Q1 of 2025, the overall picture indicates future challenges ahead for the Swiss economy.

 

A Structural Issue:

The OECD predicts that for Switzerland ‘labour and skills shortages are rising and are increasingly becoming a structural issue.’

The economy’s slowdown in 2024 reduced the tightness by 18% from the 2023 peaks, yet the labour market remains tighter than for pre-pandemic levels. As Adecco’s report confirms, the current vacancy rate in Switzerland surpasses the levels seen before 2020 despite the minimal unemployment increase.

Specialised and technical professions face the most significant workforce shortages among all occupations. The Adecco/UZH reports show that healthcare positions together with IT/software positions and engineering and technical positions consistently lead the shortage lists. The persistent demand for skilled electricians together with electronics and mechanical engineers continues to be high and the technician shortages are worsened by “baby-boomer” retirements.

Software developers along with data specialists and cybersecurity experts were extremely hard to find during the pandemic recovery period. The 2023–24 period has seen a reduction in high-tech shortages because AI technology has enhanced developer efficiency , although tech talent requirements continue to surpass 2019 levels. The employment market shows surplus candidates for basic cleaning and entry-level retail clerk positions, indicating that the shortage exists primarily at the skilled labour level.

Swiss Skills Gaps: The 2030 Demographic Challenge

Switzerland will experience a growing skills shortage because of significant population transformations. Retiree numbers will substantially increase by 2030 while the birth rate remains low. Foreign workers make up a significant portion of the Swiss workforce as the country depends heavily on international labour, and any tightening of the immigration processes in Switzerland, common in global economies, could significantly impact on the recruitment of overseas workers. The number of foreign nationals employed in Q1 2025 increased by 2.4% from the previous year while Swiss nationals experienced a 0.1% decrease in employment. However this reliance on immigration to close the skills gap is fragile. A focus on how the Swiss education and training systems can better prepare local employees for the future is essential.

The extensive use of foreign talent by Switzerland suggests limited potential for further immigration benefits due to European-wide workforce shortages. The unemployment rate in 2024 has remained exceptionally low at 4–5% which has forced every industry to fight for limited labour supply. The workforce distribution trends cause structural shortages to emerge. According to OECD economists, the aging “baby-boomer” generation creates vacancies in essential trade and service fields.

 

Emerging Challenges

Many current jobs in the existing workforce need new skills to meet the requirements of modern technology and the green industry (e.g. IT literacy, machine learning, renewable-energy expertise). The  economic slowdown does not relieve the pressure on the demand for these skills and there is an increasing need for them across the world.

Employers have identified a rising need for skilled professionals who possess knowledge of artificial intelligence and cloud computing together with data analytics and sustainable engineering. Education and training systems struggle to keep pace with these new skills as it can take time to develop responsive curriculum.

Because there are so few available high-skilled workers, recruitment becomes costly and fierce competition exists. As Adecco puts it

“The current situation is turning out to be a buyer’s market where instead of companies choosing their employees it will be the employees selecting the companies they want to work for.”

Without innovative solutions to developthe existing workforce, shortages in expert skills will only increase. New solutions are needed to provide effective, targeted training to the current and future workforce.

CoursePulse – the route to targeted upskilling

Companies need to deliver more effective staff development by implementing customised training and professional development programs to stay competitive in the market.

Upskilling and reskilling programs are becoming imperative to improve staff capabilities specifically in IT/digital and technical trades and healthcare fields.

Coursepulse’s targeted training solutions can focus on essential skills areas by delivering modular training which draws on reliable and trustworthy analysis of the essential skills needed to bring a workforce up to speed with current demand and future change by drawing on verified datasets. Through this approach, workers can learn new skills relevant to their field.

Through Coursepulse, employers can speed up the process of training existing staff members for new positions and improve their ability to bring in skilled technical teams.

The current labour shortage affects some of the most powerful Swiss industries including healthcare, finance, high-tech manufacturing, green tech and hospitality. Demographic trends will increase this problem during the upcoming decade.

Organisations that invest in their workforce through ongoing skills development will experience reduced impact.

The solution to the Swiss and global competitive skills challenges comes from platforms like Coursepulse, which empower employers and employees to close current and future gaps.


Contact us today to see how CoursePulse can help Swiss Industry and other businesses close the skills gap.

 

Richard Knapp
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