Official website of the Swiss watch industry

The slight fall in jobs recorded last year in the Swiss watch and micro-engineering industry is part of a pattern of long-term stabilisation. Better qualified employees.

The downward trend in manpower in the watch and micro-engineering industry, already noticeable in 2003, can now be confirmed: the sector employed 39,998 workers in 2004 against 40,538 the previous year. However, the number of firms has increased by two units and the qualifications of personnel are becoming more important, in direct correlation with a Swiss watch industry that is increasingly active in the superior quality segment. These are the main findings of the census carried out at the end of September 2004 by the Employers’ Federation of the watch industry (CP).

While the number of firms listed shows an increase of two units (589 businesses instead of 587), the watch and micro-engineering industry employed 540 fewer people in 2004 than in 2003. Indeed, total manpower fell from 40,538 to 39,998 workers, a decline of 1.3%. In absolute figures, the main reduction is again attributable to production personnel, where the number dropped from 29,932 to 29'304 (-628, -2.1%), while administrative staff registered a slight increase (+ 140, +1.6%). The most important proportional decline was evident however among home workers: personnel in this category, already very marginal for a number of years, fell from 570 to 498 people (-72, -12.6%).

These variations should however be viewed on a relative basis: since the middle of the 1980s and until 1998, the workforce in the watch industry has fluctuated around the 33,000 mark with an average of 580 firms. Since the millennium there has been a marked increase and in 2001 the 40,000 mark was reached, with a maximum of 40,815 recorded in 2002. The declines recorded in the last two years are therefore part of a pattern of long-term stabilisation.

The distribution of personnel shows the industrial nature of the sector: 73.3% of workers, to whom must be added 1.2% of home workers, are employed in production, 22.0% are in charge of administration and 3.5% are managers. The proportion of men and women is very evenly balanced: 21,759 female employees (54.4%) and 18,239 male employees (45.6%).

The level of training is another interesting criterion on which the census throws light: 11.0 % of employees have higher training and 46.8% have a vocational diploma (Swiss school leaver’s certificate or equivalent foreign certificate), added to whom are the 1.9% of individuals on an apprenticeship. Semi-qualified or unqualified workers now represent only 40.2% of production personnel. These figures underline the importance of the qualification levels of personnel in the present-day Swiss watch industry (in earlier times, two-thirds of employees were unqualified). The industry’s profile is increasingly identified with superior quality products, making training an absolute necessity.

82% of workers are employed by firms affiliated to the Employers’ Federation (CP). They are therefore subject to the Collective Agreement signed with trades unions. The collective agreement covers 403 firms (68.4%) employing 32,804 people.

From a geographical point of view, the largest concentration of watch industry employees is in the Jura mountains, as the following figures illustrate (in number of employees and as a %):

The seven cantons of the Jura watchmaking region account for 37,368 employees, or 93.3% of workers in the industry, with the canton of Neuchâtel still the watchmaking canton par excellence. Other cantons making a significant contribution to the industry are Ticino (1,240 employees), Valais (569), Schaffhouse (412) and Fribourg (238). Only the canton of Geneva recorded a slight increase in manpower in 2004 (+72, +1.1%). All other regions showed declines, with Neuchâtel leading the way (-184, -1.7%), followed by Soleure (-142, -3.7%) and Basel (-65, -6.9%).

The watch industry includes firms carrying on very varied activities: the manufacture of watch components is most widespread (carried on by 194 establishments), followed by the assembly and finishing of watch products (154 establishments). More than 96 firms carry on a purely tertiary activity (sale, representation). Moreover, 237 establishments carry on one or more activities that are not directly related to watchmaking (micro-engineering unconnected with watch production, fabrication of machines, technical-medical, automotive supplies, etc).

On a final note, the industrial fabric of the watch sector is composed mainly of small structures: 72.5% of establishments employ fewer than 50 workers, while only nine establishments (1.4%) have more than 500 employees. On average, a watch manufacturer employs around 60 people.

July 01, 2005