Swiss watchmaking reaches record number of hirings

Recruitment in the watch industry has increased by 9.9% in just over a year. According to the latest census of the Employers' Convention of the Swiss Watch Industry (CPIH), in fact, in 2007 the number of workers employed in this sector reached 48,835, almost 4,400 more than in the previous year. According to the CPIH, this is the highest increase in recent years.

The number of companies also increased by 32 (+5.4%). According to the survey, companies are concentrated at 94% in the Jura region, and the cantons with the highest growth in personnel are Neuchâtel with +1,255 employees, Berne with +737 and Vaud with +701.

In addition, the level of training of production personnel continues to increase: 10.8% of production employees benefit from higher education and 39% have a diploma. Finally, as the CPIH emphasises, the proportion of apprentices (1.9%) is increasing significantly (+22%).

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