Advertisement

Temporary staffing on the rise in Switzerland

The Local
The Local - [email protected]
Temporary staffing on the rise in Switzerland
Adecco, the world's largest temporary staffing agency, is headquartered in Zurich. Photo: AFP

More and more employees are engaged in temporary jobs in Switzerland, according to a report that says that demand for such interim work has been growing at annual rate of almost ten percent for the past 20 years.

Advertisement

Around 300,000 workers were hired last year under contracts fixed for a limited period of time, Swissstaffing, an employers’ association that represents temporary staffing companies said.

Temporary employees worked a total of 161 million hours and earned total wages of 4.7 billion francs ( $4.87 billion), said the group, which conducts research into the temporary staffing market every four years.

Almost a quarter of such workers surveyed earned more than 30 francs an hour, while the rest earned between 25 and 29.90 francs an hour.

The temporary staffing industry in Switzerland reported a turnover of 6.5 billion francs last year, up from 5.2 billion francs in 2010, an increase of more than 21 percent.

While there is no one kind of temporary worker, statistics showed they are increasingly well qualified.

In 2014, 69 percent of such employees had high professional qualifications.

More than two-thirds of temps performed specialized tasks in the artisanal, technical and administrative domaines, as well as in services.

Around 31 percent were engaged as auxiliary staff.

Temporary work impacted all the major economic sectors, including construction, industry and services, including banking, communications, healthcare, retail, transport, hotels and restaurants.

A high number of temporary workers are young, with 27 percent under the age of 26, Swissstaffing said.

Only 3.5 percent of workers in Switzerland over the age of 40 opted for temporary work, which is frequently seen as a stepping stone for full-time employment.

Half of temporary workers in the country were Swiss, while the majority of foreigners came from Germany, Portugal and the Balkans, the report said.
  

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also