swissstaffing - Verband der Personaldienstleister der Schweiz
Swiss Staffingindex 2022 in review: comfortable increase, significant slowdown, unexpected final spurt
Ein Dokument
Dübendorf (ots)
Labor shortage, omicron, supply bottlenecks and inflation - the annual figures from staffing service providers illustrate the roller coaster ride that was 2022.
Staffing service providers concluded 2022 with an increase of 7.2 percent year-on-year in the temporary sector. The number of permanent position placements even rose by 9.3 percent. According to the Swiss Staffingindex, there were huge variations in growth rates over the course of the year. These were shaped by the hot topics of 2022: labor shortage, omicron, supply bottlenecks and inflation. The temporary sector saw a boom in the first quarter of 17.6 percent due to omicron, and the increasing lack of skilled workers and employees prompted an increase in business development of 3,4 percent in the fourth quarter. Even more astonishingly, there was strong growth of 10,0 percent in the temporary sector and 20.1 percent in the permanent staffing sector in December.
The situation in healthcare is symptomatic of staff leasing development
"The extremes of growth experienced by staffing service providers in 2022 are symptomatically reflected by the situation in healthcare," explains Dr. Marius Osterfeld, an economist at swissstaffing. Vaccination centers, staffing shortages in hospitals, and work absences as a result of coronavirus brought staffing service providers onto the scene at the beginning of the year. They provided the economy with the short-term workers it needed and helped keep Switzerland's economic engine running. The result was a comfortable increase in the temporary staffing sector. At the end of the year, healthcare once again illustrated the greatest challenge facing the economy and staffing service providers - hospitals needed nurses to keep things running, but had a shortage of staff. This is where staffing service providers came in: with their flexible working models, they helped to fully tap skilled labor potential and keep nurses at work. However, the labor shortage also limited the growth of staffing service providers and caused a significant slowdown.
Surprisingly, a strong end to the year
The trend for permanent positions progressed in contrast to the development of the temporary staffing sector. Strong growth of around 9 percent in the first and second quarter was then followed by a weak third quarter due to the explosion in fuel prices and increasing uncertainty. The lasting shortage of skilled and manual labor prompted a real boom in the fourth quarter, with business up 21.8 percent compared with the previous year. In addition, fear of failing to find any candidates prompted companies to choose from even a small cohort if candidates fitted the required profile. The temporary staffing sector also enjoyed a pleasing end to the year with 10 percent more working hours rendered. The warm weather kept construction activities growing, and without concerns about the coronavirus, retail and gastronomy enjoyed a boom.
Outlook for 2023
Despite numerous challenges, staffing service providers are viewing 2023 optimistically. More than 50 percent of swissstaffing members are expecting to see an increase in business over the next six months, compared with fewer than 60 percent in the third quarter. A cooling economy and a labor shortage will remain the major challenges facing staffing service providers over the coming year. The reason for this paradoxical development: due to demographic change, Switzerland's labor market is losing manpower as each year passes and causing the economy to evolve. For example, over the past twenty years, over 150,000 new jobs have been created in healthcare and social services alone. This trend is likely to continue in 2023.
In the new cockpit, users can select and analyze the Swiss Staffingindex http://www.swissstaffing.ch/staffingindex data on an interactive basis.
More statistics can be found at this link.
https://www.swissstaffing.ch/en/Sector-Politics/Statistics-of-the-sector/Introduction.php
Contact:
Marius Osterfeld, Economist
Tel: 044 388 95 70 / 079 930 45 25
marius.osterfeld@swissstaffing.ch
Blandina Werren, Head of Communications
Tel: 044 388 95 35
blandina.werren@swissstaffing.ch
www.swissstaffing.ch