– SMEs allow employees to continue working after retirement age
Three quarters of the companies enable their employees to remain in the workplace even after they have reached retirement age. This is shown by a survey of small and medium-sized companies.
Published today at 06:00
Eighty-six percent of small and medium-sized firms struggle to find staff, so they’re resorting to retirees.
Photo: Christian Beutler (Keystone)
The Swiss labor market is in transition. More employees are now retiring than newly trained people are looking for a job. This troubles many companies. The lack of staff is currently the biggest challenge for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to a survey carried out as part of this year’s Axa labor market study. For this purpose, a good 300 Swiss SMEs were surveyed by Michael Hermann in cooperation with the Sotomo research institute.
Silvan Hotz, President of the Swiss Bakers’ and Confectioners’ Association and co-owner of the Hotz Rust bakery in Baar, is also feeling the effects of the lack of workers: “Often you don’t get a single application for advertisements.” He had been looking for a confectioner for almost a year.
He was looking for a confectioner for a year: Silvan Hotz, President of the Bakers and Confectioners Association.
Photo: PD
Seraina Wyss, who manages administration at Küffer Elektro-Technik AG in Kirchberg, Bern, has had similar experiences: “Placing ads is no longer enough. You have to be present on social media and do employer branding there.” You can no longer avoid job placement offices either.
Compared to last year, the recruitment problems have worsened again. In 2022, 14 percent stated that they usually or always had trouble filling vacancies; this year it is already 18 percent. Overall, 86 percent find it at least partially difficult to hire new employees.
It is particularly difficult to find suitable personnel for manual trades. And the majority of the SMEs surveyed (69 percent) assume that the situation will continue to deteriorate. Baker Hotz also fears this: “The number of apprentices is falling, which is why the shortage in our industry is probably increasing.”
Many companies are also looking abroad – for example in the catering trade, in retail and in industry. “We receive applications from the Middle East and Africa ourselves,” says Seraina Wyss. Her company recently hired a programmer from North Macedonia.
“We receive applications from the Middle East and Africa ourselves”: Seraina Wyss from Küffer Elektro-Technik AG in Kirchberg BE.
Photo: PD
Retired employees are also welcome. While years ago forced early retirement made the headlines, companies are now happy if their employees still have a few years left after reaching retirement age. Three quarters of SMEs enable their employees to extend their professional careers in this way.
Those who make use of it often do so with a reduced workload. Which in turn requires more coordination and planning. At Bäcker Hotz, for example, a saleswoman still works one or two days a week. But she also wants to travel with her husband for a few weeks. You have to respond to such needs if you want to keep people.
The smaller the companies, the more interested they are in keeping their employees working, even after they have reached retirement age. In such small companies, the know-how is often concentrated in a few people, so these companies are particularly happy if they can keep the knowledge in the company.
On the other hand, companies are more reluctant to hire older people. Apparently they shy away from the training costs. Costs that are not incurred if previous employees continue to work after retirement age.
SMEs are also rather reluctant to offer part-time work and home offices. A majority of 57 percent consider themselves more “traditional” in this regard, while 43 percent describe themselves as more “progressive”. 80 percent part-time jobs are now widely accepted, while lower part-time jobs are less so – with the exception of “women’s jobs”, for example in retail and in education, health and social services.
“We wouldn’t have done that before”
But the pressure from employees is growing. “They are increasingly insisting on being able to spend more time with their families,” says Hotz. Due to the lack of personnel, they would also have a good chance of getting such demands through. “A number of companies will probably have to rethink,” said the President of the Bakers’ Association. Today you have to take what you can get on the job market. This also means that the opening hours are reduced during the holiday season in order to be able to meet the holiday wishes of the employees. “We wouldn’t have done that before,” says Hotz.
It is also clear to Seraina Wyss that companies have to respond to the wishes of their employees. In her industry, however, the desire for part-time work is low. She suspects that most technicians prefer a traditional role sharing with a part-time woman.
And what do SMEs think of a statutory four-day week? While 39 percent of those surveyed agreed to such a model in 2022, this year it is only 31 percent. The reason for this is probably that the media has reported more about it and the SME representatives are now better informed. As soon as a four-day week means less working hours with the same wages, most companies are against it.
There is a lack of skilled workersIwan Städler is domestic editor. Previously, he was a member of the Tamedia editorial board and editor-in-chief of the “Tags-Anzeiger”. He is the winner of the Zurich Journalist Award.More information@Iwan_Staedler
Found a mistake?Report now.
19 comments