Employee rankings - what are they telling us this year?

In 2018, around 8,000 Swiss employees from academic and non-academic backgrounds with an average age of mid-30s once again took part in the country's largest study of the most attractive employers. Some long-term trends were confirmed, but new findings also emerged. What is clear, however, is that Swiss employees are moving in a clear direction and employers should be aware of this. Some, as "Universe's data" shows, already are.

Google remains the most attractive employer for IT and business professionals. However, the IT giant was ousted from first place among engineers, with SBB now in first place.

A good two-thirds of the companies in the top 20 are headquartered in Switzerland! After Google, 6 Swiss companies occupy the top positions among business economists, led by Nestlé, Migros, SWISS and the Swatch Group. Swiss companies are also very well represented in the IT sector. Swisscom is the second most attractive employer for IT and Logitech, SBB, SWISS, UBS and Migros are all in the top 10.

Now, these rankings are of course a valuable indicator that these companies invest heavily in their employer attractiveness year after year, but they say much more about the current (and future!) climate among Swiss employees.

Trends in the Swiss labour market

In addition to the general preference of which employer is the best to work for, Universe's results also provided clear trends on the "why".

Earning a lot of money as quickly as possible, come what may, that was once the case. Today's employees have much higher or lower expectations - it all depends on the perspective. The generational shift in values has clearly arrived in the workplace. For example, things like the demand for respect or being team-oriented have risen dramatically, especially in the technical professions. In engineering and IT by around 10% compared to the previous year.

For the former group, it is also significantly more important than in 2017 to be able to combine personal interests with the job. IT professionals place particular value on a creative and dynamic working environment as well as on innovation. Professionals in the field of business administration show a similar, albeit not quite as striking, picture. Here, too, significantly more value is placed on creativity and innovation in the workplace, although attractive fringe benefits and the prospect of a high future salary still play a more important role than among the "techies".

All these movements already indicate that professionals today are less concerned with prestige and more with well-being and job satisfaction. The following movements confirm this: Engineers are less interested in the financial security of their professional future. The need for a superior who concretely supports one's professional development has decreased not only among engineers, but also among IT'ers (by over 10%).

In addition, employees in technical fields are less receptive to exchanging ideas with international clients or colleagues in the work environment. All this can generally be interpreted as a declining interest in a steep career.

Clear direction in terms of career ideas

If the above trends aren't enough to show that the current workforce is moving in a different direction than it was 10 years ago, the following findings will certainly bring definitive clarity. All of the groups of professionals mentioned have a significantly stronger interest in working autonomously and independently this year. At the same time, the desire for a managerial position has decreased dramatically in all respects. First and foremost among IT professionals, where this desire has dropped by a full 11%. If one considers that especially IT'ers are financially well off even in non-managerial positions, this is quite understandable. Employees in the IT sector earn on average 12'000CHF more per year than engineers. The financial incentive to climb the career ladder is thus slowly but surely being buried. What counts is the right environment, pleasant conditions and exciting, attractive and innovative projects.

These results are only confirmation of an already existing and much larger movement. Workers do not want a strong hierarchy, do not want to feel restricted at work and the priority is to do meaningful work. It is also about transparency, respect and balance in life. The job should not move closer to life as digitalization progresses, but the other way around.

Contemporary employers

Employers such as AXA or the Federal Administration have understood this and are already very successful in implementing some of these movements. These two employers, for example, are perceived as having particularly flexible working conditions. Furthermore, according to the professionals interviewed, the City of Zurich, SRG SSR, IKEA and Mobiliar are particularly supportive of gender equality.

The Federal Administration and the City of Zurich are recognised for 'Respect in the Workplace'. Mobiliar and Postfinance are specifically recognised as organisations with managers who promote the development of their employees.

Now, it's no secret that Switzerland may be a small country, but in terms of corporate strength, it's in the mix with the big boys. So what do our domestic trends and movements look like on a global scale? Employees in technical professions clearly favour factors such as innovation and creativity in the workplace, even on a global level, and also tend to be more often involved in challenging or meaningful tasks.

Global orientation

There are also global parallels in the economic professions. Job security and work-life balance are extremely important worldwide. As a difference to Swiss employees in economic professions, it can be said on a global level that professionals here are even more interested in managerial positions and are more likely to desire an international career. "The conclusion to be drawn from this is that the Swiss quality of work and life is definitely appreciated and is therefore reflected in the wishes and expectations of the employer," adds Leo Marty, who is responsible for the study.

Especially for younger generations, looking at global trends, fear of lack of work-life balance (Gen Y 36%) and high stress levels (Gen Z 58%) are just two of the reasons why employees are less and less interested in leadership positions or a great career. These same generations are also the most fearful of being stuck in a job with no opportunities for advancement. Overall, the current workforce - in Switzerland and around the world - is struggling to bring the values that matter to them to work. For employers, this means it's time for a workplace realignment.

Here is more information about the universe Professional Ranking and to the Global Ranking