New app helps fight skilled worker shortage: Muriel E. steps in when staff is short

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Muriel E.* (24) is flexible. The trained health worker does not know when or in which hospital, nursing home or nursing home he will work next. This suits her. Following an apprenticeship and a vocational school leaving certificate, the woman from Frauenfeld is currently studying theology in Zurich and can therefore only work sporadically in her first job.

He takes on short-term jobs using an app. It works very simply: “In the application, I can see which institution is looking for a nurse on which day, how much the salary is and when the shift will start.” If he likes a job, he can register his interest in the application. “The employer then decides whether there will be a match.”

Not all are suitable for temporary assignments

“Not everyone is suitable for changing temporary assignments,” says the Thurgau resident. He adds: “When I was a permanent employee, it was a big problem for individual employees to work on a different floor.” Short-term assignments in nursing homes are also not particularly suitable because relationships with residents are particularly important.

Blick meets the nurse after the morning shift at the Mathilde Escher Foundation in Zurich. The institution cares for people with muscular diseases. This is his first assignment here. Whether hospital, nursing home or clinic: E. says that from a nursing perspective, the tasks are similar. In addition, he never works alone, but always as a team. He sees many advantages of temporary work. First of all, great flexibility. There is no difference between working permanently or temporarily in terms of wages. “I can open the app at six in the morning,” he says, “and it’s quite possible that I can start work somewhere the same day.”

Problem: shortage of skilled workers

Short-term employment opportunities show how dry the job market is. According to the forecast of auditing firm PwC, this shortage will “get relentlessly worse”: approximately 40,000 nursing positions will remain vacant by 2040!

Katharina Hildebrand (60), managing director of the Mathilde Escher Foundation, confirms: “Due to the emergency staff situation, we are employing temporary employees.” Temporary workers currently make up two to five percent of the workforce. He is happy to be able to use the application when there is a personnel shortage. Still, he says: “Sometimes there are top people, and then there are less fit people.” Despite the agreement, no one came to work. “There is always uncertainty when recruiting through an app because you don’t have personal contact with applicants before deployment,” he says.

Temporary work has a price

The Coople app organizes the shortest-term temporary assignments in Switzerland: In addition to healthcare facilities, restaurants, retailers and insurance companies also hire temporary employees via the app. The app’s 30,000 users have a professional background in healthcare.

Anyone who does not show up for the agreed service will receive a “strike” in practice. Coople managing director Yves Schneuwly (39) clearly states that mediation is over if there are three “strikes”. “For us, commitment is important, especially in the nursing professions where people need good care and support.”

Companies working with a digital temporary service provider pay an additional fee on top of the gross wage. Example: A healthcare worker whose hourly wage is 40 francs is billed by Coople to the company using the service for 57 francs. It’s a hefty additional fee, but companies save on HR costs and are able to maintain their operations in the first place. Schneuwly: “At the end of the day, we don’t need to be more expensive to companies than permanent employees.”

For app user Muriel E., it doesn’t matter who pays how much as long as her salary is correct, and that’s what she does. Temporary placements fund their education. And give him the flexibility he needs to balance his studies, work, and hobbies.

*Name changed

Source :Blick