The number of job vacancies posted in December in Switzerland increased by 38.8% compared to the same period last year, according to the Michael Page Swiss Job Index. This is the largest increase in over a year since the publication of the index in 2012.

The index also showed that the the number of vacancies throughout Switzerland decreased slightly between November and December 2016 (-1.3 %), lower than the usual seasonal average decline in this period (-3.2%).

The categories of employment with the highest growth over the year (December 2015 - December 2016) are:

“These trends should continue in 2017 - particularly in job categories already showing significant growth, " Charles Franier, Executive Director at Michael Page, said. “Employers will have to consider more than the wages for successful recruitment, if they want to attract the best talent. This includes career development, training and development, or flexible working hours."

German-speaking regions recorded the largest increases over the year (40.5%) while 9 out of 10 jobs came from French-speaking Switzerland, where growth was 28.0%. The number of jobs fell in each region between November and December (-1.3% and -1.6% respectively).

The Central and Eastern regions showed the highest growth over one year (52.0% and 68.1% respectively).