Industrial sector is a new hub for Swiss engineers

The Industrial Products & Services sector in Switzerland includes mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and manufacturing and is a key industrial plank in the make-up of the Swiss economy.

For companies in this industry, their positioning compared to global competition, the development of new markets, optimising growth in established markets, and innovations in terms of new products and services are a high priority. In this fast changing eco system Switzerland has managed to maintain a positive outlook for industrial products and services, especially as regards manufacturing.

In 2016 Switzerland ranked 13th worldwide in the Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index with a score of 63.6. Switzerland developed six main strategies to implement and assist Swiss intellectual property based companies to grow: customer integration, globalisation, development of new products and services, inorganic growth, and leveraging operational excellence.

These trends are forecasted to bring greater successes to the industry. Revenue expectations from CFOs in Q2 2017 increased to 72% from the previous quarter (47%), and will most likely continue to grow over the next year. The top three investment priorities for CFOs are information technology, R&D and innovation, and acquisition of digitally skilled employees. “We have arrived in industry 4.0 and Swiss companies have high potential on the global market to present themselves as leaders in innovation.” Nicolai Mikkelsen from Michael Page Switzerland explains. “A strong part of this success will be indicated by the presence of well-trained engineers with digital and technological know-how who are ready to take on the journey to groundbreaking advancements, especially in the industrial sector such as manufacturing.”

Global comparison: Latin America upcoming in engineering

Competing global hotspots are emerging in other parts of the world. Countries such as China, India, and Brazil are rapidly growing economies that have high demand for engineering talent.

Brazil scores highly on the list of preferred engineering destinations, with almost one out of four (23%) engineers considering relocating there, making it – together with Argentina – the most popular country of all the emerging markets. According to the latest PageGroup Trend Watch study, the country is experiencing a deficit in qualified engineers to meet rising demand in the manufacturing, agricultural and oil industries.

The same goes for Argentina, which ranks 14th on the list of most popular countries for engineering expats. Almost 25% of engineers who are willing to relocate would consider moving to Argentina, which is planning on investing in huge infrastructure projects in the upcoming years. The government recently signed a letter of intent to cooperate closely with big international firms, like Siemens, to develop solutions in the fields of energy, transport and intelligent cities, which would lead to thousands of new jobs.

Developing markets frontrunner in renewable energy

One of the focuses of the investments of the Argentinian government will be renewable energy, which is part of a general trend in Latin American countries and in other emerging markets.

According to a recent report by the United Nations, the developing markets are now outspending industrialised nations on renewable energy. They have spent 145 billion EUR to date on renewable projects using sources like wind and solar, whereas developed nations only spent 120 billion EUR. South American countries like Chile, Brazil and Mexico are in the top 10 of highest spenders in the world, which goes some way to explaining why so many Latin American countries are in the top 25 of most popular destinations for engineers.

Ranking global hotspots for engineering professionals

For Trend Watch PageGroup surveyed 18352 job seekers worldwide, who applied on our Michael Page and Page Personnel websites during the 3rd quarter of 2017.

Of the 1935 engineering professionals who participated in the study, 73% were willing to relocate, for job opportunities, a better salary or a different lifestyle.