Switzerland is experiencing an acute shortage of specialists in the field of engineering
As the online publication Nashagazeta.ch writes, the shortage of highly qualified specialists not only in this field but also in healthcare or programming is a pressing issue for Switzerland, as evidenced by figures regularly published by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and the statistics service. In the long term, the situation may worsen, and the country risks being short of 50,000 engineers, according to the authors of a recently conducted study.
They came to this conclusion after studying the labor market situation from 2000 to 2014. Over this period, demand for engineers in Switzerland grew seven times faster than the average for all specialties. The share of this profession among the economically active population nearly doubled, increasing from 1.4% to 2.6%.
Swiss universities were poorly prepared for such progress: the number of graduates with relevant diplomas over the same period grew, but not as fast as desired. At the same time, technological progress suggests that demand for engineers will only increase in the coming years. Consequently, the gap between the number of vacancies and suitable candidates will become even more noticeable. This must also take into account migration policy aimed at limiting access of foreign specialists to the Swiss labor market.
Thus, based on an assumed economic growth rate of 2% and a net migration balance of 40,000 people per year, experts believe that Switzerland will be short of between 20,000 and 50,000 engineers in the long term. However, the authors of the study do not specify specific dates when this might happen.
In the Confederation, the engineering profession is on the list of specialties that currently have a high concentration of foreigners. This is evidenced by its third place (37%), following the categories of natural sciences and medicine/pharmacology. Another problem is that there are very few female engineers in Switzerland: the share of women who have decided to dedicate themselves to this profession is only 16% as of 2015. This result is quite expected given that very few female graduates with engineering degrees leave Swiss universities – in terms of the share of women, Switzerland is second only to Japan.
Approximately one-third of respondents surveyed in this study hold managerial positions and have already encountered difficulties in recruiting "ordinary" engineers. Six out of ten people believe that finding a representative of this profession on the labor market is not easy at all, and almost a third reported serious problems.
Thus, this investigation once again confirmed that an engineer is a rare "diamond" among qualified specialists. One of the reasons for the shortage of representatives of this profession is that employers prefer graduates of Swiss universities, and only one in ten respondents noted that they also have difficulties in recruiting foreigners, sometimes citing the complex administrative procedure as one of the reasons.
It is noteworthy that while more than a quarter of employers complain about the lack of suitable qualifications among candidates, a fifth admitted that they were unable to attract worthy applicants, most often due to the offered salary. However, among the reasons prompting engineers to change jobs, the leading factor is not the size of remuneration, but the lack of career growth opportunities and the uncertain prospects of the company they worked for. According to Swiss Engineering UTS, a decent salary in this field can be considered 150,000 francs per year (today the median figure is 117,000 francs).
The authors of the study propose a comprehensive approach to solving the problem of the shortage of engineers in Switzerland, involving a combination of political will with efforts from employers and the candidates themselves. Industries with a high demand for engineers should promote interest in the profession through individual and collective initiatives. Specialists who cannot find work due to a lack of required skills should consider advanced training courses. Finally, authorities should take measures aimed at stimulating interest in the profession from school age.
In turn, Economiesuisse reminds that immigration remains one of the ways to somewhat alleviate the problem of specialist shortage. It can also be solved by attracting women and experienced workers who have reached retirement age. Overall, the image of an engineer needs to be made more attractive, the organization believes.