The most popular employers in Switzerland
COMPANY The consulting and research company Trendence asked 5100 Swiss graduates which companies they would work for. UBS and Google remain the most popular employers for Swiss graduates and are extending their lead over their rivals this year. However, many Swiss companies, for example in the watchmaking, construction and mechanical engineering sectors, are losing potential applicants. Instead, graduates are increasingly drawn to banks and consultancies. These are some of the results of the trendence Graduate Barometer 2016, the graduate survey of 5,100 graduates in Switzerland.
The Graduate Barometer for the Business Edition.Swiss companies on a downward trend"The strong franc is not only damaging exports for domestic companies. The negative economic outlook also has consequences for the attractiveness of employers," says trendence Managing Director Holger Koch. Many domestic companies have suffered a setback this year and are losing ground in the ranking of the most popular employers. Watch manufacturers Rolex in 27th place and Swatch in 28th place both dropped out of the top 25 this year - even though the consumer goods industry as a whole is becoming more popular with business graduates. Domestic mechanical engineering companies are losing favor with technology students. Sensirion fell to 24th place, Pilatus to 25th place. Only industry leader ABB improved to 2nd place. Swiss engineering service providers also found it more difficult to find suitable applicants this year: Emch+Berger in 48th place loses over 40 percent of its potential applicants, CSD Ingenieure in 34th place even loses over 50 percent.Consulting services popular with economists and techniciansBanks remain the most popular sector for economists: in addition to UBS, Credit Suisse, the Swiss National Bank and Julius Baer are among the top 20 most popular employers. Among the top banks, only the investment banks J.P. Morgan in 21st place and Goldman Sachs in 25th place lost ground. Alongside banks, consulting is one of the favorite sectors for first jobs. They are able to convince both more economists and more technicians to join them as employers, thus laying a good foundation for successful recruiting. PwC, McKinsey, EY and BCG are among the top 10 most popular employers for economists. Among technicians, IBM, BCG and McKinsey are in the top 15.
The graduate barometer for the technology and IT sector.Enthusiasm for start-ups reduces supply of skilled workersMore than one in five graduates in Switzerland is toying with the idea of founding a start-up during or shortly after their studies. This means that the enthusiasm for start-ups in this country is even slightly higher than in neighboring Austria and Germany. This means that domestic employers are also losing skilled workers.Money is not everything for graduatesSwiss graduates are traditionally those in Europe with the highest desired salaries. Economists demand 72,500 euros gross per year, technicians 70,100 euros. "Although graduates demand so much money, this does not mean that employers can buy the best graduates with a high salary, on the contrary: opportunities for self-realization, independent work and a suitable corporate culture are more important to the majority than a high salary," says Koch.
