The Swiss labour market in international cooperation – The most important trends from 2010 until tod

Highlights

The Swiss labour market in international cooperation

The most important trends

from 2010 until today Ten years is a long time. This is particularly the case in international cooperation, a field subject to constant change. What have been the latest developments and changes over the last decade? The following summary outlines the most important trends.

A growing market, especially in humanitarian aid The labour market that was surveyed includes all work conducted internationally to improve living conditions, especially for people in difficult circumstances. The common denominator of these activities is the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The number of positions in the Swiss international cooperation (IC) labour market has increased by 41% since 2010. The number of people employed in the humanitarian aid (HA) sector has doubled during this period, and currently represents 70% of the total labour market. The development cooperation (DC) sector has also grown, although not as rapidly.

44 %

LABOUR MARKET, COMPARISON BETWEEN 2010 AND 2018

1

+41%

70%

62%

Background

38%

30%

Humanitarian aid Development cooperation

2010

2018

cinfo, the Swiss centre of competence for international cooperation, and BASS, the office for labour and social policy studies, jointly monitor the Swiss labour market. Developments facing both job seekers and organisations are continuously analysed through: ▪ surveys of employers (the Confederation, Swiss NGOs and international NGOs ­headquartered in Switzerland, the ICRC and foundations. Not included are the organisations of international Geneva); ▪ surveys of people who use the cinfoPoste job portal; ▪ evaluations of job vacancies published on cinfoPoste; ▪ and surveys of education and training institutions.

29 %

53 %

Note: The statistics reflect only positions directly related to international cooperation and not to support functions such as communication, human ­resources or administrative tasks.

2

Higher education and relevant experience are essential Motivation and the desire for meaningful work are not enough when it comes to finding a job.

Most advertised vacancies (91% of all vacancies in 2018) require a tertiary degree (from higher education institutions, universities of applied science and universities). International cooperation is characterised by a high degree of professionalization on both the supply and demand side.

100%

5%

6%

3% 18%

18%

19%

80%

51%

59%

49%

60%

40%

20%

0%

Apprenticeship / High

53% 7%

5%

31%

30%

5% 2016

1% 2014

62%

54%

University of applied sciences /

8%

31%

Advanced technical college

2018

Vacancies (lowest qualification)

University bachelor’s degree

7% 17%

9%

school graduation (Matura)

7% 7%

16%

9% 4% 4% 2016 2018 Job seekers (highest qualification)

5% 2014

University master’s / licenciate degree Postgraduate degree

In the past decade, the range of training and education options specifically focused on international cooperation has significantly expanded. Today, there are 26 such study programmes (at universities and universities of applied science) compared to only 8 in 2005.

In addition to relevant training, 44% of advertised vacancies also require initial work experience in international cooperation.

3

Entry points vary depending on the type of organisation 18% of job seekers on cinfoPoste, the Swiss portal for jobs in international cooperation, try to gain a foothold in organisations by means of an internship or an entry-level position.

However, entry possibilities vary greatly. Relatively good opportunities are offered in development cooperation, where 14% of jobs are open to young people without any significant experience, while in humanitarian aid the figure is only 5%. While it is true that many positions in humanitarian aid are not advertised, job seekers without professional experience in this field clearly face greater hurdles. In general, small organisations offer more entry opportunities than large ones.

100%

80%

11% 16%

60%

41% 40%

20%

0%

16%

4% 15%

11% 28%

61%

10% 14%

47%

Specialist abroad

17% 11%

18% 28% 14% Large DC

11% 9%

Small DC

Junior or Intern

Large HA

Management / coordination function abroad Specialist at Swiss HQ

18% Small HA

Management function at Swiss HQ

Job seekers who are willing to work abroad increase their chances of employment, as about two-thirds of advertised vacancies concern positions abroad, with the majority in the region of Africa, followed closely by postings in Asia.

140%

4% 6% 4%

120%

100%

6%

20%

32%

36%

18% 80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

14%

7%

7% 3%

4% 14%

21%

3%

Central America and Caribbean

25%

67%

South America

55%

North Africa and Middle East

29%

Large DC organisation

Europe

48%

Central Asia

29%

Small DC organisation

Asia (without Central Asia)

Small HA

Large HA

Africa

Profiles particularly in demand What professional skills are of particular interest to organisations active in international cooperation? The analysis of job advertisements highlights the following: the most sought-after professionals come from the fields of economics, law and business administration; social sciences and humanities; social work; and international relations and development cooperation. Demand is somewhat lower in the fields of natural sciences and engineering, medicine and health, and agriculture and forestry. On the whole, supply and demand are relatively balanced, although the demand for skilled professionals in certain fields (economics, health, agronomy) is currently higher than the number of job seekers.

Economy, law, business, general services Social sciences and humanities, social work

28% 23% 20%

23%

20%

International relations, DC

29%

12% 11%

Sciences, engineering professions

6% 6%

Education, pedagogy, training Medicine, medical professions, health Agriculture and forestry 0%

13%

6% 9% 3% 5%

10%

Demand (vacancies) Supply (job seekers)

15%

20%

25%

30%

4

5

Women still underrepresented Although women make up the majority of job seekers (around 60%), the situation is different among those who are effectively employed in international cooperation, where women make up only 44%.

The proportion of women in humanitarian aid is particularly low at only 40%, while they represent 53% of those employed in development cooperation. Does this make humanitarian aid a male domain? The under-representation of women is probably due to the fact that international cooperation offers few opportunities for part-time work (14%) and working conditions are not conducive to reconciling the demands of family and work. It will be interesting to see how the proportion of women develops in the coming years.

Percentage of women… …in IC-related degree courses

63%

…in IC-related post-graduate programmes

…searching for a job on cinfoPoste

61% 44%

…as a proportion of total IC labour market

…in HA

6

Demand side

53%

…in DC 0%

Supply side

53%

40% 10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Internationalisation of personnel In their search for particular specialist skills or hard-to-fill vacancies, various Swiss organisations tend to recruit more abroad.

Between 2014 and 2018, the proportion of Swiss nationals employed by these organisations fell from 42% to 34%, while the proportion of employees from outside the EU rose from 16% to 29%.

This internationalisation is largely due to the ICRC, which employed only 16% Swiss nationals in 2018, compared with 21% two years earlier. Generally in the humanitarian field, only small numbers of employees come from Switzerland. There has been little change in the origin of development cooperation staff, because state actors continue to employ mostly people of Swiss nationality.

Ten years after its first publication, the latest edition of the Labour Market report provides, for the first time, a comparison from 2010 until today. You can find the report here

www.cinfo.ch/trends

100%

16%

2016 25%

22%

80%

60%

2014 5% 9%

17%

7%

13%

23%

37%

73%

22%

41%

70%

21%

21% DC NGOs

HA

IC total Switzerland

27%

DC

DC NGOs EU

43% 51%

49%

38%

DC

37%

70%

42%

IC total

13%

36%

56%

54%

0%

29%

45% 54%

20%

23%

38%

42%

40%

2018 8%

HA other

34% 16% IC total

DC

DC NGOs

HA