Strongest recovery in IT professions, weakest recovery in the hospitality industry and personal services

Zurich, 1 July 2021 – In the second quarter of 2021, the Swiss job market showed clear signs of recovery: the Job Index increased by 28% compared to the previous year. This is shown in the scientifically based survey from the Adecco Group Swiss Job Market Index run by the Swiss Job Market Monitor at the University of Zurich. The number of job advertisements in German-speaking parts of Switzerland has risen more sharply than in French-speaking parts of Switzerland and Ticino, where the recovery started slightly earlier. IT, management and organisational professions saw particularly strong growth throughout Switzerland.

The latest developments in the Adecco Group Swiss Job Market Index have shown a positive upward trend, as Swiss companies are advertising more and more job vacancies. Consequently, the Job Index has increased by 28% compared to the same quarter of the previous year and will soon reach pre-Coronavirus crisis levels. “It is fair to assume that the economy will now recover rapidly, as indicated by the latest economic figures from SECO and KOF.

For example, the containment measures enforced at the beginning of the year had little impact on industry, which showed positive figures in terms of added value. The Job Index values will approach pre-Coronavirus crisis levels in the second quarter of 2021 and will be comparable to the values from the second half of 2019,” explains Anna von Ow from the Swiss Job Market Monitor. All other job groups are currently showing a positive development compared to the same quarter from the previous year, albeit to a varying degree. “Many companies were forced to reassess their business models during the Covid-19 pandemic. Within a very short period of time, a great deal has been invested in automation and digitalisation in order to accelerate transformation processes. The relevance of digitalisation has become more evident and this is why there is a strong demand for computer scientists, management specialists and organisational experts to plan and implement these processes,” explains Monica Dell’Anna, Head of the Adecco Group Switzerland.

More demand than ever for IT professions in the second quarter of 2021: +55%

All occupational groups were affected by the first lockdown in the spring of 2020. Since then, the demand for skilled workers in the IT industry has risen continuously and the Job Index values for these professions are now even higher than in 2018. Accordingly, the demand for IT industry specialists has been particularly high in the second quarter of 2021. This group of specialists includes programmers, webmasters, system engineers and IT project managers, for example. The demand for employees in management and organisational professions has also increased sharply in the second quarter of 2021 (+40%) compared to the previous year. Such professions include HR specialists or organisational specialists as well as middle and upper management.

The index for trades and sales professions recorded a similarly large increase of 38% compared to the previous year. “These professions suffered greatly from the first lockdown, but partial closures at the start of 2021 also reduced the number of job advertisements for trade and sales professions. Following another slump in the last quarter, some signs of recovery have emerged in the form of a significant increase in retail sales in April of this year.

However, this job index has not yet reached pre-Coronavirus levels,” explains Anna von Ow from the Swiss Job Market Monitor.

Office and administration professions also saw a positive development in the second quarter of 2021 with an increase of 35% compared to the same quarter of the previous year. These professions have been continuously recovering since the sharp decline during the first lockdown. However, pre-Coronavirus levels are still a long way off.

Job advertisements for the industry and transport professions increased in the second quarter of 2021 by 33% compared to the same quarter of the previous year. This means that there is now even more demand for industry and transport professions than shortly before the first lockdown. “According to SECO, the manufacturing sector grew significantly in the last quarter, especially the chemical and pharmaceutical industry,”, adds Monica Dell’Anna.

The job index for teaching and public services increased by 25% compared to the second quarter of 2020 and is therefore only slightly below pre-pandemic levels. Health professions have not yet fully reached pre-pandemic levels, but are nonetheless very high. They increased 22% compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The indexes for the finance and fiduciary (21%), and construction and renovation professions (20%) are also increasing again. The fact that construction professions have reached pre-Coronavirus levels again is particularly good news. Job advertisements for science and technology professions also increased by 17% compared to the same quarter of the previous year. They have by and large reached pre-Coronavirus levels again.

Zum ersten Mal aufatmen dürfen Berufe im Gastgewerbe und in persönlichen Dienstleistungen. Im Vergleich zum Einbruch des Vorquartals nahm der Berufsindex des Gastgewerbes und der persönliThe hospitality and personal services professions can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The hospitality and personal services job index increased by more than half compared to the slump in the previous quarter. The same quarter from the previous year saw a sharp decline in the number of job advertisements due to the first lockdown. In comparison, the hospitality and personal services professions increased slightly in the second quarter of 2021 (8%). However, these professions are still some way from reaching pre-Coronavirus levels. Companies and consumers are pinning their hopes on a surge in summer and holiday business.chen Dienstleistungen um mehr als die Hälfte zu. Das Vorjahresquartal verzeichnete aufgrund des ersten Shutdowns eine regelrechte Talfahrt in der Zahl der Jobinserate. Im Vergleich dazu haben die Berufe im Gastgewerbe und in persönlichen Dienstleistungen im 2. Quartal 2021 mit einem Plus von 8 % etwas zugelegt. Vom Erreichen der Vor-Corona-Levels sind diese Berufe aber noch sehr weit entfernt. Unternehmen und Verbraucher /-innen hoffen aber aufs Sommer- und Feriengeschäft.

Coronavirus effect: Comparison of the period shortly before the first lockdown, i.e. Q2 of 2021, compared to Q1 of 2020

Compared with pre-Coronavirus levels in the first quarter of 2020 shortly before the first lockdown, the overall index closed 6% down in the second quarter of 2021. “The Swiss job market has almost recovered from the time when pandemic restrictions were introduced,” explains Anna von Ow from the Swiss Job Market Monitor.

The hospitality and personal services professions suffered the sharpest decline compared to shortly before the first lockdown (-34%), followed by office and administration (-12%), retail and sales (-10%), and management and organisation (-9%).

The majority of other professions have not yet surpassed pre-Coronavirus levels in terms of the number of job advertisements published: Health professions at -5%, science and technology at -3%, construction and renovation, finance and fiduciary, and teaching and public services each at -2%.

“Due to the Coronavirus crisis, services in some professions have been replaced by digitalisation processes, which goes some way to explaining the 14% increase in IT professions compared to just before the first lockdown”, explains Anna von Ow from the Swiss Job Market Monitor. Industry and transport professions also reported a slight increase compared to just before the first lockdown (+ 5%).

While French and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland have already largely recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic over the last few quarters, the German-speaking parts of Switzerland have made rapid progress in the last quarter, publishing a larger number of job vacancies. Both language regions are reaching the Job Index values of 2019 once again.