Top 10 most in-demand jobs in French-speaking Switzerland in 2026
Where do recruiters in French-speaking Switzerland really lack candidates? Not necessarily where you would expect. The labour shortage eased markedly in 2025, the market became more selective, and occupations once thought untouchable, such as IT or administration, lost ground. Others, in health, construction and finance, remain on top.
This ranking is based on the 2025 Skills Shortage Index compiled by Adecco Group Switzerland and the University of Zurich, on the most recent quarterly Job Index releases (up to the second quarter of 2026) and on the Federal Statistical Office’s employment barometer. Every figure is dated and sourced. We will update it with each new edition.
Where this ranking comes from
An “in-demand” job is one with many vacancies and few people looking for them. That is exactly what the Skills Shortage Index, published every autumn by Adecco Group Switzerland and the Swiss Job Market Monitor of the University of Zurich, measures. What you need to know to read the top 10:
- The measure. For each of 32 occupational groups, the index compares the number of vacancies (job ads counted by the Job Index) with the number of job seekers registered with the regional employment offices. The higher the ratio, the more sought-after the occupation. The 2025 figure covers the fourth quarter of 2024 and the first three quarters of 2025; the edition was published on 27 November 2025.
- The scope. The ranking below is the one for “Latin Switzerland”, the finest regional breakdown in the study that covers all six French-speaking cantons, Ticino and the Italian- and Romansh-speaking parts of Graubünden. There is no ranking limited to French-speaking Switzerland alone.
- The 2025 nuance. In Latin Switzerland, only health professionals still show a clear shortage. For the other nine groups in the top 10, the supply of candidates now exceeds demand, but they remain the occupations where the ratio of vacancies to candidates is most favourable. Being in this ranking means “among the most sought-after”, not “hired for sure”.
The Federal Council itself, in its April 2026 report on the causes and consequences of the labour shortage, cites this index as one of the reference measures by occupation.
The top 10 most in-demand occupations in Latin Switzerland (2025 edition)
1. Health professionals
Doctors, pharmacists, nursing managers. This is the only category still in clear shortage in Latin Switzerland, and the uninterrupted number one of the national ranking since 2022. Main driver: an ageing population, which increases the demand for care. Most of these positions require a tertiary-level qualification.
2. Site managers, foremen and production supervisors
Construction site managers, painting foremen, mechanical engineering supervisors. Second place in Latin Switzerland as nationally, driven by full order books in construction. These are supervisory roles, often reached through a federal diploma or a college of higher education after an apprenticeship.
3. Finance and applied mathematics professionals
Securities brokers, statisticians, mathematicians. Third place in Latin Switzerland, sixth nationally. At Swiss level this group left the shortage zone in 2025: demand remains strong, but the number of candidates has risen.
4. Finance and business management specialists
Business economists and management profiles. Fourth place in Latin Switzerland, where the financial centre and corporate headquarters weigh on demand. A group where positions are won on specialisation: management control, compliance, corporate finance.
5. Engineering professionals and associates
Mechanical engineering technicians, technicians in systems engineering, automation and business processes. Third place nationally, despite the poor business situation in the machinery, electrical equipment and metals industry. Most of these positions call for upper-secondary vocational training, not necessarily a university degree.
6. Polymechanics, production mechanics, machine mechanics and machinists
Fifth place nationally. The group left the shortage zone in 2025 and is among those whose number of vacancies per candidate fell the most in Latin Switzerland, under the effect of the industrial slowdown. It nevertheless remains in the top 10.
7. Electricians and electronics technicians
Electrical fitters, electromechanics, service technicians. Fourth place nationally, with demand supported by construction. An apprenticeship is enough for most of these positions, and this is one of the groups where the shortage receded the most in 2025, a sign that candidates have returned.
8. Software and application developers and analysts
The group stays in the top 10 for the region, but its trajectory changed the most: at Swiss level, job ads for highly qualified IT occupations fell by 18% over 2025, before recovering by 6% over the twelve months to the end of June 2026. The market still hires, but it sorts.
9. Natural sciences, mathematics and engineering occupations
Chemists, physicists, research engineers. Ninth place, with declining demand: these export-oriented occupations suffer from tariffs and reluctance to invest. Job ads in the group fell by 18% over the twelve months to the end of June 2026 at Swiss level.
10. Business professionals and administrative staff
Social administration and social insurance, criminal police, qualified administrative functions. Tenth place in Latin Switzerland, whereas nationally the group dropped from 21st to 28th place in one year. Its presence in the regional top 10 reflects stronger regional demand than elsewhere.
What changed in 2025: less shortage, a more selective market
The index falls by 22% in Switzerland, by 17% in Latin Switzerland
Fewer vacancies (-8% at Swiss level, -5% in Latin Switzerland) and more job seekers (+17% in Switzerland, +14% in Latin Switzerland). The unemployment rate rose from 2.3% in 2024 to 2.8% in 2025. The index is back close to its pre-pandemic level.
Four groups in shortage out of 32, only one in Latin Switzerland
Nationally, only health, site management, engineering and electrical trades remain in shortage. In Latin Switzerland, only health. Everywhere else, the number of candidates exceeds the number of positions.
The big losers: office, administration, business, IT
Business professionals and administrative staff drop from 21st to 28th place nationally; information and communication occupations lose six ranks, office occupations seven. Over 2025, job ads for sales and administration fell by 20%, those for IT by 18%. According to a KOF study cited by the Job Index, generative AI explains at most one fifth of this decline; the rest is down to the economy.
The regional winners: crafts and supervision
In Latin Switzerland, two groups saw their number of vacancies per candidate rise by at least 30% in one year: crafts and arts occupations, and supervisory occupations, for example in health or childcare. The study attributes this to an ageing population and more solid regional demand.
In the South-West, personal services and health on the rise
Over 2025 as a whole, job ads rose by 33% in personal services, by 13% in health and by 13% in assembly and auxiliary staff in South-Western Switzerland (Geneva, Vaud, Valais, Ticino), while they fell by 21% in sales and administration and by 19% in catering.
2026 trends: what the most recent data say
Health accelerates further
Over the twelve months to the end of June 2026, job ads for highly qualified health occupations rose by 17% at Swiss level, the strongest increase of all groups (Job Index Q2 2026, published on 9 July 2026).
Crafts, industry and office work pick up
Same period: +12% for crafts and industry occupations, +9% for office occupations, +6% for IT. Conversely, -18% for natural sciences, -13% for business, administration and sales, -10% for highly qualified business occupations.
Overall volume stays stable
The number of job ads is down 1% year on year in Switzerland and 2% in Latin Switzerland. The unemployment rate reached 3% in May 2026, up 0.3 points over one year.
86,000 vacancies, a third of companies struggle to recruit
In the fourth quarter of 2025, Swiss companies reported 86,000 vacancies, 4.3% fewer than a year earlier, and 36.2% of them, weighted by employment, reported difficulties recruiting qualified staff (FSO, employment barometer). Companies planning to increase their headcount represented 10.1% of employment, against 5.2% for those planning to reduce it.
Next edition of the index: end of November 2026
We will update this ranking as soon as it is published. Until then, the quarterly Job Index releases give the direction: health, construction and technical occupations on top, office and sales under pressure.
You work in one of these occupations: how to make the most of it
Being in a sought-after group changes the balance of power, provided you use it. Four reflexes:
- Set your conditions before talking. Annual salary, workload, location, remote work: in an occupation where vacancies exceed candidates, it is up to the employer to adapt. Our advice on negotiating your salary also applies when you are hired.
- Do not apply blindly, be findable. In health, construction or engineering, recruiters search actively. An up-to-date, visible profile that is precise about your requirements brings more than twenty unsolicited applications. See how to capture opportunities without searching.
- Make your qualifications count. The first two groups in the ranking most often require a tertiary qualification; the following ones, upper-secondary vocational training with, for supervisory roles, a federal diploma or a college of higher education. A qualification recognised in Switzerland is a bargaining chip; say which one you hold, and which one you are preparing.
- Look canton by canton. Demand is not the same in Geneva, in the canton of Vaud, in Lausanne, in Valais, in Fribourg, in Neuchâtel or in the Jura. Our pages by canton detail the sectors that are hiring.
And if your occupation is not in the top 10?
Sales, secretarial work, office work with customer contact, personal services: these groups now have far more candidates than positions, in Latin Switzerland as elsewhere. That does not mean nobody hires there any more, but that employers sort more. Three avenues, without guarantee:
- Specialise within your own field. Office staff in finance, accounting and materials management rank 22nd in Latin Switzerland, far ahead of general secretarial staff (30th). For similar occupations, technical skill makes the difference: payroll, accounting, management tools, languages.
- Aim for the neighbouring groups that are rising. Health assistants (11th) and supervisory occupations are progressing. For an administrative profile, a move into hospital or social administration, or into a team coordination role, is often shorter than a complete career change.
- Prepare a career change methodically. If you change direction, choose a target in the upper part of the ranking and check the required training before you start. Our guide to succeeding in your career change details the steps and the support available.
In all cases, take care of what screening tools read first: a clear, structured CV, with exact job titles and the qualifications obtained.
The Licorn method: in a sought-after occupation, recruiters come to you
Your requirements first
Annual salary, workload, location, remote work: you set them in your profile. Only companies ready to accept them can contact you. In a tight occupation, that is the right order.
Targeted proposals, not job ads
Recruiters write to you with a specific position that matches your criteria. Licorn generates your CV from your profile, you have nothing to write.
Invisible to your current employer
Your profile is hidden from the company that employs you. You can measure your market value without risk, and wait for the right proposal rather than apply.
Frequently asked questions about the most in-demand jobs
According to the 2025 Skills Shortage Index for Latin Switzerland, the ten groups with the most favourable ratio of vacancies to candidates are, in order: health professionals, site managers and production supervisors, finance and applied mathematics professionals, finance and business management specialists, engineering, polymechanics, electricians and electronics technicians, software developers, natural sciences, and qualified business and administrative staff.
It has receded sharply: the index fell by 22% in 2025 after a first decline in 2024, and only four groups out of 32 remain in shortage nationally, only one in Latin Switzerland. But 36.2% of companies still reported difficulties recruiting qualified staff at the end of 2025, and the ageing population keeps the pressure on in health and construction.
Yes, but the market has become selective. Job ads for highly qualified IT occupations fell by 18% over 2025, then recovered by 6% over the twelve months to the end of June 2026. Developers and analysts remain 8th in the regional ranking. Application, database and network profiles are more affected by automation.
Not for most of them. The first two groups, health and site management, most often require a tertiary qualification (university of applied sciences, college of higher education or federal diploma). The following groups, engineering, electrical trades, mechanics, rely mainly on upper-secondary vocational training, that is a federal VET diploma, sometimes completed by a vocational baccalaureate or a federal diploma.
The study does not go down to cantonal level. It provides a ranking for Latin Switzerland and trends for South-Western Switzerland (Geneva, Vaud, Valais, Ticino), where job ads rose in 2025 in personal services and health and fell in sales and administration. Our pages by canton complete the picture with the sectors hiring locally.
From the 2025 ranking of the Skills Shortage Index (Adecco Group Switzerland and University of Zurich, published on 27 November 2025), from the same publisher’s quarterly Job Index releases up to the second quarter of 2026, and from the FSO employment barometer for the fourth quarter of 2025. The index is annual: we will update the article at the next edition, at the end of November 2026.
In short
In French-speaking Switzerland, health remains the only field in outright shortage. Behind it, site management, finance, engineering, mechanics and electrical trades form the group of occupations where candidates are still relatively scarce, while IT, administration and sales have entered a market that sorts. The ranking moves every year; what does not change is that positions are won on specialisation and visibility.
If you work in one of these occupations, set your conditions and let the proposals come.
Sources
- Adecco Group Switzerland and University of Zurich, Swiss Skills Shortage Index 2025, presentation page (published 27 November 2025)
- Skills Shortage Index 2025, full study (PDF, in French): rankings for Switzerland and Latin Switzerland, regional chapters
- Press release of 27 November 2025 (in French): decline of the index, groups in shortage, method
- Adecco Group Swiss Job Market Index, Q4 2025 (29 January 2026): job ads by occupational group and region
- Adecco Group Swiss Job Market Index, Q2 2026 (9 July 2026): twelve-month change in job ads
- Federal Statistical Office, Employment barometer, 4th quarter 2025 (26 February 2026; in French): vacancies, recruitment difficulties
- Federal Council, Causes and consequences of the labour shortage, report in response to postulates 23.3380 and 23.4094 (22 April 2026; in French)
