Tech giants such as Google, Meta, and Microsoft are cutting tens of thousands of jobs worldwide. Swiss financial service providers, desperate for IT talent, are now positioning themselves, as research by finews.com shows.

«We are seeing candidates with careers at the big tech groups looking for new employment,» observes Stephan Surber.

This should greatly boost the active job market for these sought-after forces, the Switzerland head and senior partner of executive recruiter Page Executive tells finews.com.

Virtually Impossible

The Swiss financial industry waited a long time for this to happen. Until now, it has been practically impossible to poach IT talent from Google which has around 5,000 employees in Switzerland. Banks were not only outdone in terms of coolness but also in terms of wages.

But now the winds are shifting. American companies Amazon, Microsoft, and Google parent company Alphabet alone are planning to lay off a total of 40,000 employees worldwide in the next few months. The Facebook group Meta is said to be cutting 11,000 jobs.

Business Model Headwinds

The technology giants are not only correcting the exuberant job growth during the Corona crisis but responding to business model headwinds. In the face of a weakening economy, rapid growth has become more difficult. Investors are not as flush with cash as they once were since the central banks ended loose monetary policies.

As the financial portal «Inside Paradeplatz» reported, the wave of layoffs is hitting one of the country's most sought-after employers: Google Switzerland. According to internal e-mails, management is preparing the workforce for possible job cuts. However, they said this could only take effect in a few months.

Already an Issue

Swiss Banking is keeping its ear to the ground, according to Reto Jauch, a managing partner at Zurich-based executive search firm Schulthess Zimmermann & Jauch.

Downsizing at tech firms is already an issue at many Swiss banks, he says. «Boards and managements are assuming they can attract talent.»

Banks Creating Jobs

This comes after financial institutions struggled to attract up-and-coming technology talent, like most Swiss industries desperate for IT expertise. A survey conducted by the industry association Arbeitgeber Banken in 2021 showed IT is the only area in which the institutions still plan to create jobs in the next few years, amidst a declining employment trend for the profession as a whole.

Even if the job cuts in tech offer a golden opportunity to poach experts, this will not be a cakewalk for the banks. It is by no means enough to place advertisements. «A clear positioning is needed; these forces demand purpose and a destination from their employer,» says headhunter Jauch.

Without Purpose, Opportunities Dwindle

The search for «purpose» in one's work, is often laughed off as a fad by veteran bank managers. UBS CEO Ralph Hamers, a fan of digitization who coined the term in Swiss banking, is seen by more than a few as an irritant because of it.

But the country's largest bank is not letting anything go to waste in the battle for IT talent. Not only does UBS advertise a «culture of engineers» it also beckons with continuing education for IT specialists and internal awards. Borrowing from tech industry practices and depending on their level of training, employees can call themselves «Certified Engineer,» «Distinguished Engineer» or even «Technology Fellow».

A Battle Won

It remains to be seen whether UBS will be able to score points with these titles given the cutbacks at Google & Co. For Oliver Berger, partner at search boutique Witena in Zurich, this means that at most one battle has been won, but not the talent war.

«This has just started and will continue for the next ten to 15 years,» says the executive recruiter. «What we are seeing at the moment are just the precursors,» he tells finews.com. That's because Switzerland has too few skilled workers, trains too few, and lets too few cross the border.

Accordingly, the layoffs at tech companies are also likely to be short-lived before the market picks up again, he warns. «We're kind of experiencing a bull market rally in a bear market here.»

Contribution by Jade Cano