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War, expensive energy, a shortage of skilled workers – despite everything, Swiss industry is trying to emphasize its own strengths.
From one trouble spot to the next: The Swiss mechanical, electrical and metal industry (MEM) appears to be in a permanent state of emergency. First the corona pandemic and the resulting delivery bottlenecks and stalled trade routes, then the Ukraine war and the associated rising energy costs and sanctions as well as further geopolitical tensions and now the sputtering economic engine. On top of that, it is not easy to find good staff or to identify and train promising talent.
All of this is not without consequences: the MEM industry is on the verge of decline. In 2020, sales fell by almost 10 percent and exports by 11 percent. In the following year, 2021, there was a big recovery: sales increased by 10 percent, exports by 13 percent and in 2022 the industry developed better than expected, with an increase of 9 percent in sales and 6 percent in exports.
This year, the MEM industry initially got off to a good start in the first quarter, but the outlook has deteriorated since then. Orders fell by 10 percent for the entire first half of the year, exports also fell slightly, only sales were able to maintain the previous year’s level.
The acute shortage of skilled workers continues to worsen
Looking into the near future does not provide any relief. “The winter half-year will be particularly difficult for industry,” says chief economist Klaus Abberger from the KOF economic research center at ETH. Incoming orders are pointing downwards.
If the industry is doing poorly, the employees also feel it. Around 330,000 people are employed in Swiss industry. For comparison: Swiss banks employ 92,000 people.
Despite cancer, the industry is suffering from an acute shortage of skilled workers. There is a shortage of engineers and polymechanics and so far the industry has not managed to position itself as an attractive place to work for women. And the problem of skilled workers will not get any smaller, on the contrary. Demographic development is at a turning point: “From this year onwards, more Swiss people will be retiring than new ones coming. This breaking point has now been reached and it is getting stronger every year,” says Abberger.
A perception problem?
So how can the industry manage to get out of this mishap? Is the industry simply not sexy enough as an industry? Michael Hauser, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Starrag and CEO of Tornos, fears that this is true and that too little is being invested in advertising.
Peter Fischer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fischer Reinach, disagrees: “The industry is sexy, even very sexy, especially for young people. Because we are working on all of the issues that concern these boys. Climate change etc. We develop solutions to these problems.”
But together, the industry representatives trust in the virtues of their industry. It is resilient and innovative. And in the past we were forced to constantly reinvent ourselves.