85 percent of companies want to offer home office in the long term

The immediate impact on the personnel situation was less pronounced than in Germany and Austria, and only a small percentage of Swiss companies anticipate a sustained reduction in personnel requirements. Home office is likely to remain an option for a large proportion of companies even after the pandemic.

For the study, Xing surveyed around 1,150 HR managers and HR professionals from Switzerland, Germany and Austria between mid-May and mid-June on the impact of the Corona pandemic on HR work in their companies. The most important results:

Swiss companies well prepared for home office

Compared with Germany and Austria, Switzerland was well prepared for the lockdown. A third (32 percent) of the companies here state that home office was already possible at any time before the crisis. In Germany, this was the case for only 25 percent of companies, and in Austria for 20 percent. The vast majority (85 percent) of the Swiss companies surveyed also state that home office and remote working will continue to be possible after the Corona crisis. In Germany, only 73 percent and in Austria 79 percent of companies say this.

Impact on workforce planning lower than in Germany and Austria

The Corona crisis has turned many things upside down. Despite this, almost half (47 percent) of the companies surveyed in Switzerland state that the pandemic has no current or short-term impact on their HR planning. This means that the short-term impact in Switzerland is lower than in Germany and Austria, where only 35 and 34 percent of companies, respectively, see no change.

Three out of four companies have hired new staff since the outbreak of the crisis

New employees have started work at 73 percent of the Swiss companies surveyed since mid-March. This puts Switzerland slightly ahead of Germany with 69 percent and Austria with 63 percent. Almost three out of four companies from Switzerland (73 percent) also plan to hire new staff by the end of the year.

Swiss companies invest in employer branding

42 percent of the companies surveyed from Switzerland state that they are investing more heavily in building up their employer brand in the wake of the Corona pandemic. Such investments have decreased at 26 percent. In Germany and Austria, the situation is reversed: The proportion of companies that are reducing their investments in employer branding is predominant.

Xing Switzerland Managing Director Robert Bertschinger says: "Our results show that Swiss companies are thinking sustainably about the topic of employer branding and are maintaining or even increasing corresponding investments in the majority of cases. We also see this as a sign of confidence with regard to the future personnel situation. In addition, conscious investments in the employer brand make sense in times of crisis, as employer branding also works internally and can serve as an important tool for communicating with existing employees."

Pandemic fails to ease shortage of skilled workers

A clear majority of the Swiss companies surveyed (62 percent) expect the shortage of skilled workers to remain a major challenge over the next twelve months. In Germany, only 53 percent are of this opinion, in Austria 58 percent. Around a quarter (26 percent) of Swiss companies believe that staffing requirements will increase over the next twelve months. 14 percent expect a short-term decline in staffing requirements, which will level out again in the foreseeable future, and 15 percent anticipate lower staffing requirements in the long term.

Swiss companies see implementation of New Work well advanced

The term New Work can be used to summarize the various facets of the structural and value changes in our working world. Companies are responding to this development with new working and management models, among other things. Of the Swiss companies surveyed, 20 percent consider this development to be already very advanced within their own organization and state that the principles of New Work are being fully lived out and that corresponding measures are being further expanded. For Germany, this figure is only 9 percent, while in Austria it is 11 percent. A further 30 percent of companies in Switzerland state that they live the principles of New Work to some extent, and 18 percent are not yet involved with New Work, but are planning to introduce corresponding measures in the future.

Robert Bertschinger: "New Work is highly relevant among the Swiss companies surveyed. With the need for flexible working in terms of time and location, certain aspects of New Work also came more into the spotlight in the course of the pandemic. However, living New Work also requires a corresponding mindset that brings values such as trust, agility and transparency to the fore. We hope that the impetus provided by the pandemic will also be able to promote such cultural aspects."