After ten years of shedding jobs, Switzerland's banks are hiring again. Most institutes eschewed job cuts during the Covid-19 crisis.
The unemployment rate in Swiss banking stood at 1.9 percent at the end of May, lower than the rate of 3.1 percent through all sectors – which isn't the only good news for the sector: banks in Switzerland lifted headcount by 0.4 percent last year to a total of 89.942, according to data compiled by the central bank.
This illustrates that firms were hesitant about making major cuts to their workforce during the acute phase of the pandemic, the Employers Association of Banks in Switzerland (AGV) said in a statement (in German).
Nearly Half Female
Specifically, big banks added 444 employees in Switzerland, cantonal banks 323 people, «other» banks pitched in 244, trading banks another 213 people, Raiffeisen-member banks 197 staff, genuinely private banks hired 20 employees, and lastly foreign banks added 16 people to their Swiss subsidiaries.
Female representation in banking remained unchanged in 2020 on the year, at 40 percent. Ancillary services to finance also hired in 2020, adding 592 employees to reach 104,835 staff, according to the AGV.
