IT WORKFORCE


OVERVIEW
Switzerland has a highly skilled workforce that is focused on quality as a result of experience in precision operations. These factors help to make Switzerland one of the most productive workforces in Europe. Workers in this country work more working hours than any other European nation, yet remains quite flexible. It is estimated that Switzerland has 3.5 million workers in mid-2001. The employment rate is the lowest in eight years. 30% of companies report a shortage of qualified workers. Switzerland has entered into a labor accord which will raise the number of allowable work permits by foreigners. Currently, more than one-fifth of the Swiss workforce are foreign workers. Switzerland also enjoys a low unemployment rate of less that 1.6% from January - June 2001. The rate increased to 1.7 in July and August. Turnover is estimated to be about 10%, which is lower than in previous years. 1

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
The Swiss government has undertaken a number of measures to develop a native ICT workforce. Some of these initiatives have included internet access in the primary and secondary schools as well as development of technology curricula at the university level. Switzerland has a 99% literacy rate among its citizens. Currently, ICT curricula are being developed to address the growing shortage of ICT skills. The curricula aims to prepare students for ICT careers from the primary level though to the graduate level.
In an effort to attract business and encourage innovation, Switzerland has tried to create an interface between education, research and practice. An example of this effort is ecdemy.ch. This initiative is represents the National Network of the Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences for E-Business and eGovernment. This group is made up of 12 member institutions. The mission of ecademy.ch is to support research and development at the university level that may be applied in a practical business environment. Their primary goal is the “production and systematic transfer of knowledge in the field of e-business and e-government.” 2

SKILLS SHORTAGE
A recent article by the Training Foundation predicts a European ICT skills shortage of 1.7 million by 2005.3  Three areas of particular concern are networking, software applications, and distributed ICT skills. The Training Foundations asserts that Switzerland will have the greatest percentage of shortages while Germany, France and the United Kingdom will have the largest shortage in numbers. During the five-year period 2000-2005, IDC predicts IT skills shortage will increase from 1.1 million to 1.6 million professionals.  IDC reports that “European organizations continue to be affected by the ICT skills shortage, which, if not addressed will continue to create a bottleneck for the adoption of new technologies and the operation and management of existing ICT systems.”4  Some of the needed IT skills that have been identified are:
  • networking professionals
  • desktop support and NT sever analysts
  • Oracle consultants and ABAP programmers
  • DB2 database managers or CICS analysts
Western Europe Total IT Skills Shortage 2000-2005

 2000  
 2001 
 2002
 2003
 2004 
 2005
Demand
 10,368,851
 10,957,538
 11,837,533 
 12,874,484
 13,614,357
 14,302,430
Supply
 9,216,104
 9,821,918 
 10,580,954
 11,288,395
 11,974,980
 12,634,371
Shortage 
 1,152,747
 1,135,620
 1,256,579
 1,586,089
 1,639,377
 1,668,058
%Shortage
 11% 
 10%
 11%
 12%
 12%
 12%
 Source IDC, 2002
Over the five-year period from 2000-2005, An 11% shortage in IT skilled professionals is predicted for Switzerland. In the study conducted by IDC, Luxembourg is expected to have a 7% shortage, which is the smallest among Western European nations. Austria has the largest expected shortage at 14%.  In 2002 comparison to other nations’ total number shortage Luxembourg has the least amount at 663 while Germany will have the greatest shortage at 289,779. These numbers support the country's realization that native IT skills need to be developed in order to have an adequate supply of IT skilled  labor in  future.

Switzerland: Total IT Skills Shortage 2002-2005

2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005 
 2000-05 Shortage
Switzerland
 43,914  
 42,510 
 45,001
 59,769 
 61,919 
 64,573 
 11%
Source: IDC, 2002




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