The problematic situation of skilled labor shortage: This is how Swiss companies look for employees abroad

After completing the course, they will be offered a position at the Aargau Cantonal Hospital, the Hirslanden Group clinic or one of the other institutions and companies recruiting in Poland through Carenea. «We have no problem settling our people; “Demand is greater than supply,” says Peter Petrin.

There is a shortage of employees

There is especially a personnel shortage in the health system. However, other sectors in Switzerland also complain that they cannot find enough employees. Unemployment is low, and despite the imminent economic slowdown, unemployment is likely to increase only moderately. The entire baby boomer generation will withdraw from working life in the coming years, leaving empty seats in the job market.

In other countries, such as Germany, where this demographic gap also exists, the government specifically recruits workers from other continents: Kenya, Brazil or the Philippines. Swiss companies are looking to their own continent, and Poland is a particularly popular country in this regard.

Collaboration with Polish university

In Poland, Carenea has to make a lot of effort to find suitable applicants. A lot is expected of skilled workers: They move to a foreign country and leave friends and family behind. The working culture is different, the language is foreign. For this reason, Carenea only accepts people under the age of 35 into the program. “In our experience, it is difficult for older people to learn a new language and change the environment,” says Petrin. That’s why this year Carenea started a collaboration with the University of Kielce in Southern Poland. Candidates take German classes during their training, so Carenea can offer them a position in Switzerland when they graduate.

Entrepreneur Petrin says “markmanship” is important. “We invest at least 10,000 francs in each person.” Carenea recruits, trains and places Poles. Part of the training includes several days of trial work in a hospital or nursing home in Switzerland, and the company also deals with acceptance into the local job market.

Switzerland offers attractive working conditions

The newcomers have the same working conditions as their Swiss counterparts; therefore, they earn much better than in their home countries, where nurses with a bachelor’s degree earn less than 2,000 francs a month.

But it’s not just high wages that attract Poles to Switzerland. According to Petrin, working conditions in Swiss hospitals are attractive for Poland. “This is a more important argument than the better wages they get in Switzerland. The working environment in the Polish healthcare sector is more stressful for employees and the infrastructure is often less modern.

The story of Carenea’s origins is directly linked to the shortage of nurses in Switzerland: “Those in charge of hospitals are desperately looking for staff; that’s how the idea of ​​setting up this program in Poland came about,” says Petrin.

Galenica, Switzerland’s largest pharmacy operator, is also now looking for qualified employees for its subsidiaries such as Amavita or Sun Store through Carenea. “This is a pilot project and if we can hire three to four employees this way it will already be a success,” says Virginie Pache, President of Galenica Pharmacies.

Bindella recruits chefs from northern Italy

The trend of hiring staff directly from abroad extends well beyond the healthcare industry. For example, in the food and beverage sector, another sector suffering from a shortage of skilled workers, Zurich gastro chain Bindella has been recruiting staff in Italy since this April.

“We are primarily looking at the regions of Tuscany, Piedmont and Lombardy,” says Bindella’s boss, Rudi Bindella Junior. So far, seven employees have joined the company, mostly chefs and pizza makers. “This strategy works for us right now. But more is definitely needed to address the shortage of skilled workers. First of all, we must succeed in increasing the attractiveness of the catering industry again,” says Bindella.

“We understand companies”

Since the introduction of free movement of persons in the EU in 2001, more than 66,000 net foreigners have come to work in Switzerland each year. However, it is clear that this influx is not enough to solve the shortage of skilled workers. And this despite the fact that the Swiss economy is losing momentum and industrial companies in particular are now receiving fewer orders.

But according to a recent study by the Center for Economic Research (KOF) at ETH Zurich, Swiss companies continue to complain about the difficulties they have in finding sufficiently well-trained employees – although it is no longer so “acute”, the shortage of skilled workers is an “urgent issue”. continues to be a problem.

“The shortage of skilled workers has not diminished; it remains one of the biggest operational challenges for companies in the technology industry,” says Ivo Zimmermann, spokesman for Swissmem, which brings together technology companies as well as the mechanical, electrical and metal industries. Simon Wey, chief economist at the employers’ association, says the labor market is “drier than ever”. “Companies first need to reduce traffic congestion in open areas.” His organization also sees the solution to the domestic shortage of skilled workers. “We especially want to bring more mothers and older people back into the job market,” says Wey.

But it is “misleading” to believe that this is enough. “High demand will continue to require the recruitment of skilled workers from abroad,” the economist said. The healthcare system in particular is currently heavily dependent on foreign workers, and this situation will worsen in the future as the population of Western countries ages. “Institutions will collapse without migration at the latest. “We understand companies that are actively recruiting staff from abroad,” says Wey.

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Search is limited to Europe

Bilateral agreements with the European Union allow Switzerland to partially alleviate the shortage of skilled workers; This was also stated in the latest analysis of the effects of the agreement by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs at the beginning of summer. However, the regulation also imposes restrictions on the search for staff, as it makes it very difficult for companies to recruit staff from outside the EU.

And this is becoming more and more of a problem because the EU population is also aging and the proportion of people of working age is shrinking.

“Otherwise we would have gone to the Philippines.”

Simon Wey from the employers’ association has heard criticism in business circles about the obstacles to people from outside the European Union obtaining work permits. “The final word on third country regulation has not yet been said. There is growing debate about whether restrictive admission criteria for the inflow of skilled workers from outside the EU should be relaxed.

Ivo Zimmermann from Swissmem confirms this: “For years the technology industry has been calling for increased quotas for workers from third countries and a corresponding reduction in administrative barriers. “If companies can more easily recruit workers from third countries, this could help alleviate the shortage of skilled workers.”

Carenea would also prefer to implement the program in Asia. “Due to the third country solution we can only hire people from within the EU. Otherwise we would have gone to the Philippines. The cultural fit would be right,” says Peter Petrin. In Poland, a second-choice country, strict restrictions are placed on recruitment agency work.