Post-Holiday Boom in Advertised Jobs: +14.2% Growth

Download the PDF

Zurich/Geneva, Wednesday, 25 September 2019. The post-holiday boom in advertised jobs has arrived. According to the Michael Page Swiss Job Index, advertised jobs grew by +14.2% between August and September and +19.8% year-on-year (September 2018 – September 2019). These are the highest growth rates recorded, over this period, since the inception of the Index in 2012.The German-speaking region, which accounts for 9 out of 10 advertised jobs, led the way with +15.3% monthly growth and +20.0% annual growth. This compared with +8.5% and +18.7% respectively in the Swiss Romande. 
Demand was especially strong for facility managers. This reflects the substantial growth in the real estate sector for both new developments and reconstructions. Demand also grew significantly for specialists in sales, logistics, management support and business administration as well as the pharmaceutical industry.

Winning Job Categories

Monthly Growth
(August 2019 – Sept. 2019)

Year-on-Year Growth
(Sept. 2018 – Sept 2019)

  1. Facility Managers

+35.4%

+47.5%

  1. Sales Specialists

+18.1%

+26.8%

  1. Logistics Specialists 

+17.7%

+17.6%

  1. Management Support & Business Administrators

+17.1%

+21.3%

  1. Pharmaceutical Industry Specialists

+12.9%

+22.5%

Candidate-Driven Market

“We are definitely in a candidate-driven market across many sectors. We recommend that employers be prepared to accept the second and third candidates on their short list as the preferred candidate will often have multiple offers and accept other offers during the recruitment process”, said Nicolai Mikkelsen, Executive Director, Michael Page. 

East leads Strong Regional Growth

The East Region (AI, AR, GL, GR, SG, SH, TG) showed the strongest results with a record monthly growth rate of +22.7% and an annual growth in advertised jobs of +38.3%. This was mainly driven by the demand for specialists in IT, administration, sales, as well as engineering and technical roles – especially in the canton of St Gallen. Advertised jobs in all regions showed strong monthly and annual growth.

Regions

Monthly Growth
(August 2019 – Sept 2019)

Year-on-Year Growth
(Sept 2018 – Sept 2019)

East (AI, AR, GL, GR, SG, SH, TG)

+ 22.7%

+38.3%

Zurich (ZH)

+10.4%

+16.4%

Mid (BE, FR, JU, NE, SO)

+7.8%

+18.4%

Central (LU, NW, OW, SZ, UR, ZG)

-7.6%

+14.7%

North (AG, BL, BS)

+5.6%

+11.9%

Lake Geneva (GE, VD, VS)

+5.0%

+19.0%


 

Michael Page

Michael Page is a leading brand of the PageGroup, one of the world's pre-eminent professional recruitment consultancies. Listed on the London Stock Exchange (“PAGE”), PageGroup was established in Switzerland in 2001. The Michael Page team works closely with its clients to identify and place the best candidates for management positions. It also collaborates with PageGroup’s other operational brands to ensure that all client needs are met. This includes Page Personnel (graduates and first level specialists), Page Executive (senior and executive management) and Page Outsourcing (solutions for high-volume hiring). PageGroup has more than 141 offices worldwide including three Swiss offices in Zurich, Geneva and Lausanne.


Michael Page Swiss Job Index

The Michael Page Swiss Job Index measures the number of advertised vacancies on company sites throughout Switzerland. Introduced in January 2012, the Swiss Job Index provides a unique, comprehensive overview of the Swiss labour market and the most important monthly trends.


Media contact:

C-Matrix Communications

Vicki Tanner

[email protected]

Michael Page is a brand of “Michael Page International (Switzerland) SA”.