Even though the Swiss unemployment rate is expected to rise slightly in 2026, there are currently a total of 225,358 jobs advertised across the country – with some sectors more in demand than others.
Hundreds of people in Switzerland have lost their jobs in 2025 – a trend that, to some degree, will spill over into this year as well.
Overall, however, the prospects for job seekers in 2026 is positive.
READ ALSO: What’s the outlook for Switzerland’s job market in 2026?
However, much depends on where in Switzerland you are seeking employment and – even more importantly – in what sector.
Thousands of employees are being sought
The latest information about the current state of the job market comes from the recruitment portal X28.
Its market analysis revealed that currently there are a total of 225,358 job openings across various industries.
Where is the demand highest?
By far the highest number of open positions are in the sector that has long been suffering from a chronic labour shortage – the healthcare.
In all, there are 22,500 vacancies in this field. Especially in demand are nurses; with over 15,000 openings, this is the most sought-after profession in Switzerland, ahead of electricians (5,100) and carpenters (3,100).
There are also thousands of vacancies for retail personnel (3,117), project leaders (2,694), and service technicians (2,519).
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Which companies have the most vacancies right now?
The clear winner is retailer Manor, which is seeking 126 employees for various tasks – a 75-percent increase in recruitment.
Next is the Swiss Post, seeking to hire 53 employees, which represents a 53-percent hike.
They are followed by Migros in eastern Switzerland (42 vacancies, a 34-percent increase); the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich (ETH) – 41 jobs/43 percent; the City of Zurich (36 posts – 8 percent); Otto’s discounter (35/25 percent), and Coop (34/3 percent).
But as always, opportunities to find a job are not distributed evenly among all regions.
The cantons of Zurich and Bern have the most job postings, with 46,657 and 29,697 vacancies, respectively.
In French-speaking Switzerland, Vaud leads the way with 8,546 job offers.
This doesn’t mean, however, that no jobs are available elsewhere in Switzerland – there are, but fewer.
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Can foreign nationals apply for the vacant jobs?
If you are living in Switzerland on a C permit or a B one that is not tied to a specific employer, then yes.
Additionally, if you are a citizen of the European Union or EFTA (Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein), you have an unlimited acess to Switzerland’s market as well.
On the other hand, nationals of third countries need to go through certain procedures before being allowed (or not) to live and work in Switzerland.
In the best-case scenario, they will qualify for a permit under the quota system:
READ ALSO: Switzerland’s 2026 permit quotas for non-EU nationals
