How Switzerland plans to tackle its labour shortage

The Swiss labour market will be short of several hundred thousand people by 2040, according to various studies. How can Switzerland keep its trains and hospitals running? A debate about the state’s role in preparing for this shortage has begun. This reality has hit the labour market since the Covid pandemic ended. Many companies are finding it difficult to recruit enough staff to meet high demand. Although inflation has subdued the post-Covid economic recovery somewhat in recent months, and consequently the need for labour, more than 110,000 jobs were still vacant at the end of 2023, according to the latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office. The situation looks set to get more acute. According to industry associations, there will be a shortfall of almost 430,000 people in the labour market by 2040, mainly as a result of demographic change. The influx of young people onto the labour market will not be sufficient to compensate for retiring workers of the baby-boom generation.