Data

Calculation of the skills shortage

The number of job advertisements according to the Adecco Group Swiss Job Market Index is compared by occupation with the number of job seekers registered with AVAM. Specifically, the indicator vi/ui is calculated across Switzerland, per language region and per large region. Here, v stands for vacancies and u for the unemployed, i for the respective vocation. This indicator forms the strength of the skilled-labour shortage within a profession. However, it does not necessarily record the extent of the skills shortage or oversupply of skilled staff within an occupation. To calculate this factor, the indicator vi/ui is additionally weighted with the size of the vocational field. Specifically, the number of employees per vocation is used.

The Skills Shortage Index shows the development over time since 2016. The index value 100 is determined as the weighted average of the relationship between the number of vacancies and the number of job seekers for all vocational groups in 2016 according to the size of the profession.

Definition of occupations

The advertised jobs that appear during the respective analysed week (basis: tens of thousands of advertisements per quarter) are taken into consideration to calculate the number of vacancies per occupation. The job descriptions in the advertisements are assigned to the job categories of the Swiss Standard Classification of Occupations 2000 (SBN2000) from the Federal Statistical Office and the regions (cantons) using a standardised, mainly automated process. The number of job seekers per occupation (SBN2000) and region according to AVAM are provided by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).