Skills shortage 

Attracting new talent and retaining skilled workers

Fewer applications per job, more time until positions are filled: Swiss Post is also feeling the impact of the nationwide labour shortage. Because it will continue to be a challenge to find enough suitable employees, it has introduced new employer branding.

Workers urgently needed! In 2022, the number of job vacancies reached record levels in Switzerland. As the economy recovered after the years shaped by the pandemic, there was a big requirement for staff. This trend affected Swiss Post, too: “We were able to fill most positions,” says Judith von Moos, Head of Recruitment at Swiss Post. “But we received fewer applications per job than in 2021. And it took us longer to fill positions.” In some cases, Swiss Post was only able to fill highly specialized jobs in procurement, finance and IT with a great deal of effort, or indeed not at all.

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The labour market is highly competitive. Swiss Post must position itself strategically as an employer in order to attract new talent. This positioning was enhanced based on the corporate strategy – the employer value proposition (EVP) was redefined, and modern and unmistakeable employer branding with the claim “Paint the future yellow” was created. The EVP emphasizes the unique diversity of jobs and opportunities available at Swiss Post. The new employer branding is used in ads and campaigns or at events such as SwissSkills, the Swiss professional championships. The new identity for the internal and external labour market allows Swiss Post to aim the various employer themes at the right target groups.

124,200
vacancies were counted by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office in the third quarter of 2022 (+26.6% year-on-year).
3,791 
jobs were advertised by Swiss Post in 2022. That is 12.4 percent more than 2021.
61,861 
applications were made to Swiss Post in 2022 in response to 3,791 advertised jobs. That is 12 percent fewer applications per position than in the previous year.
11,000–12,000
positions need to be filled by Swiss Post by 2026.

“The growing shortage of labour is a trend that we also observed before 2022,” adds Judith von Moos. It will continue to be a challenge for Swiss Post in the coming years, as many people in the baby boomer generation go into retirement. The labour shortage is exacerbated by the rapidly changing world of work: automation and digitization require new specific skills that are more difficult to find on the job market. That is why Swiss Post is launching various offers and initiatives designed to enable its employees to acquire new skills of this kind. For example, it has set up the “Professionally Fit” initiative in cooperation with its social partners syndicom and transfair. In workshops, employees analyse their own interests and strengths and are given support with professional development and planning their career.

IT location in Portugal opened

Swiss Post is breaking new ground: as the battle for IT specialists in Switzerland intensifies, Swiss Post is establishing its own European IT development location in Portugal, with around 120 employees in the medium term. This is in addition to its IT development locations in Bern, Neuchâtel and Bellinzona and will enable the company to continue providing people and companies in Switzerland with its high-quality logistics and digital services.