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In the summer of 2020, Theresia Sokoll (48) took over Hotel Kettenbrücke in Aarau. In the middle of the pandemic. It wasn’t just the lockdowns that worried the new director. There was a lack of staff, especially in the kitchen and in the service. But whining was pointless. Sokoll closed the restaurant every Monday, reorganized the staff and helped himself – at the tables, at the dishes, at the reception.
The pandemic ended, but recruitment problems remained. “We mainly suffer from short-term absenteeism,” says Sokoll. “Unlike in the past, we have no chance of finding a replacement quickly.” If this is no longer possible, the director will stop the reservations.
Sokoll came from Austria at the age of 16 to work as a restaurant specialist. Self-educated, made a career. The 34 employees come from Switzerland, but also from Austria, Somalia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the Ukraine. “We couldn’t run a business like this without immigration,” says Sokoll. “We simply cannot find enough natives to fill all the vacancies.”
Paradox: Switzerland has had a high level of immigration for years – partly due to the free movement of people – but the longer the shortage of skilled workers, the more skilled workers it gets. You see this especially in the hospitality industry. According to a member survey by Gastrosuisse, more than 60 percent of all hotels can no longer find suitable staff.
The number of vacant full-time positions in the hospitality industry has risen to a record high – from 2000 in 2015 to 8500 today, according to a new analysis by the trade association. The industry has not less to do, but more: Overnight stays are on the rise. In 2010 there were 509 overnight stays per full-time position, today there are 605, according to an exclusive evaluation by Hotelleriesuisse.
The shortage of skilled labor runs throughout the economy. Swissstaffing, the association of personnel service providers, evaluated the number of vacancies per unemployed person for SonntagsBlick. This shows that whether it’s mechanical engineering, health, IT, banking, insurance or the hospitality industry – there have never been so many unfilled vacancies per unemployed person.
The imbalance between supply and demand is also palpable in the temporary employment sector: for the first time in two years, the temporary employment sector is in the red – with 3.4 percent. Because the companies are increasingly offering temporary workers permanent contracts, as Marius Osterfeld (37), chief economist at Swissstaffing, says: “The companies are intensively looking for employees and bind them as quickly as possible.”
Because the local market is dry, companies are looking even more intensively in neighboring countries. Only: there is also a shortage of workers. The reason is the aging of society. In Germany, the share of the total population in work will fall by 14 percent by 2040, in Italy by 18 percent and in Spain by 16 percent. In Europe, the number of people of working age is currently falling by almost three million a year. This is shown by calculations by the Competence Center Demography.
“It will probably become more difficult for Switzerland to recruit missing employees abroad in the future,” says demographics manager Hendrik Budliger (48). Because: “From 2026, immigration to Switzerland will stagnate or even decrease.” Added to this is the impending retirement wave of baby boomers. According to Budliger, both factors together ensure that the working population will also decrease in Switzerland.
So it is quite possible that in a few years the discussion will be the other way around: instead of talking about “too many” Switzerland could soon talk about “too few” immigrants. Budliger warns that the high local wages are not enough to attract a skilled workforce. “There are also reasons that speak against Switzerland.” Childcare is significantly more expensive in this country than elsewhere. Budliger says owning a home abroad is also much easier to afford than in Switzerland. If Switzerland fails to become more attractive compared to other countries, the labor force will shrink. “That would have a major impact on the economy and society.”
The demographer also draws attention to a category that, despite its large number, is rarely talked about: emigrants. In other words, those who move back to Germany, France or Italy after a few years in Switzerland. Contrary to popular belief, it is not primarily about retirees, on the contrary: according to demographic calculations, the majority of people emigrate between their mid-twenties and late thirties; the average age is 33 years. “Most emigrants are young, often families,” says Budliger. “These kids will be missing from this country — as future workers, taxpayers, AHV contributors.”
Professor of Economics Rhaeto Föllmi (47) from the University of St. Gallen took a closer look at the length of stay of immigrants and emigrants. His findings: “After three years, only half of the immigrants are still there.” The fluctuations are therefore large – many short-term residents have a fixed-term employment contract. Unlike Budliger, however, Föllmi is not concerned about the high level of emigration among young people. “There are many people between the ages of 20 and 45 who are mobile. It’s part of that phase of life.” It’s also not the case that you can’t keep people. “Switzerland succeeds in attracting and integrating many highly educated people from the EU.”
However, this does not mean that the labor shortage is over. Marco Salvi (53) of the think tank Avenir Suisse says: “If the economy continues to grow as it has in the past 20 years, there will be a shortage of about 1.3 million skilled workers in 2050.” There is therefore a need for stronger incentives to work, such as individual taxation. But a well-thought-out immigration policy is also needed, says Salvi. “Since skilled labor is also becoming scarce in Europe, Switzerland must increase labor migration from third countries.”
The gastronomic associations are also urging this. But progress for easier admission conditions for people from third countries should struggle in Bern. At the moment, the wind is blowing in the other direction: with the announced “Sustainability Initiative”, the SVP is once again questioning the free movement of people – regardless of the shortage of skilled workers.
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
