Swiss graduates navigate a changing jobs market

Landing your first job after university is becoming a little more challenging for graduates in Switzerland, with new figures showing unemployment has risen among those leaving universities and universities of applied sciences.

As per the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), unemployment increased between 2023 and 2025 across several categories of higher-education graduates. The biggest jump was recorded among those with a university master’s degree.

One year after graduating, their unemployment rate, measured according to International Labour Organisation (ILO) criteria, rose from 3.9% in 2023 to 6.4% in 2025.

Graduates from universities of applied sciences also faced a tougher start to their careers. Among those holding a bachelor’s degree, the unemployment rate climbed from 3.4% to 4.9% over the same period.

Not every graduate group saw the same trend, however. Those completing teacher-training programmes continued to enjoy exceptionally strong employment prospects, with unemployment standing at just 0.7% one year after graduation.

The figures, published by the FSO, offer a useful snapshot of how the Swiss graduate job market is evolving, and suggest that having a degree no longer necessarily guarantees a smooth transition into employment.

The picture becomes even more interesting when you look at the different fields of study.

As was the case for the class of 2022, graduates from some disciplines faced a much tougher job market than others. Among bachelor’s graduates from universities of applied sciences, unemployment was highest in music, performing arts and other arts, at 10.8%. Design followed closely at 10%, while applied linguistics recorded a rate of 9.4%.

For university master’s graduates, those in interdisciplinary and other studies had the highest unemployment rate, at 8.6%.

At the other end of the spectrum, some qualifications continued to offer particularly strong employment prospects. University master’s graduates in medicine and pharmacy recorded an unemployment rate of just 1.6% one year after graduation.

Graduates from universities of applied sciences in health and social work also fared particularly well, with unemployment rates of just 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively.

Furthermore, the rise in unemployment wasn’t limited to traditionally weaker-performing fields. Several disciplines that had previously enjoyed relatively low unemployment also saw a significant deterioration between the graduating classes of 2022 and 2024.

Among university master’s graduates, engineering saw unemployment more than double, jumping from 2.1% to 4.8%. Economics and business also recorded a substantial increase, with the rate rising from 3.5% to 8.5%.

The picture was similarly challenging across the humanities and social sciences, where unemployment climbed from 5.1% to 8.5%, while graduates in the natural and exact sciences saw the rate increase from 4.5% to 6.8%.

Bachelor’s graduates from universities of applied sciences also faced a tougher employment market. Unemployment among those studying engineering and information technology rose from 3% to 6.4%, while the rate for business and services graduates increased from 4.5% to 6.4%.

It wasn’t just unemployment that became a bigger concern. Graduates were also increasingly struggling to find jobs that matched their career ambitions.

Between the classes of 2022 and 2024, the proportion of university master’s graduates who said they had difficulty finding a job suited to their professional goals jumped from 30% to 44.1%.

Bachelor’s graduates from universities of applied sciences faced a similar trend, with the share reporting difficulties rising from 24.2% to 36.9%.

Again, teacher-training graduates stood apart from the wider trend. Just around 12% reported difficulties finding a job that matched their professional ambitions, a figure that remained broadly stable compared with previous years.

The challenges were particularly striking in some traditionally strong fields.

Among university master’s graduates, the proportion struggling to find a job that matched their professional ambitions nearly doubled in engineering, rising from 22.9% to 43.3%.

Economics and business graduates saw a similarly sharp deterioration, with the share reporting difficulties climbing from 26.8% to 43.9%.

The change was even more dramatic among bachelor’s graduates from universities of applied sciences. In engineering and information technology, the proportion struggling to find suitable work more than doubled, jumping from 18.8% to 39.6%.

So, what is making it harder for graduates to land the jobs they want?

For the class of 2024, a lack of professional experience remained the biggest hurdle. In 2025, around two-thirds of university master’s graduates who struggled to find work said they lacked sufficient experience.

Among bachelor’s graduates from universities of applied sciences, the figure was even higher, at almost three-quarters.

But experience wasn’t the only issue. Graduates were increasingly pointing to the wider economic climate as another major barrier to finding work.

Among university master’s graduates, 42.5% blamed the state of the economy in 2025, up sharply from 23.8% in 2023. For bachelor’s graduates from universities of applied sciences, the proportion citing economic conditions almost doubled, rising from 19.5% to 37.9%.

For Switzerland’s latest generation of graduates, the journey from university to the workplace is clearly becoming less straightforward. Rising unemployment, growing difficulty finding roles that match career ambitions and a tougher economic backdrop are creating new challenges, even for those with qualifications in traditionally strong fields.

The growing impact of economic conditions suggests that the wider labour market is playing an increasingly important role. For students and graduates, gaining practical experience and staying adaptable could therefore be more important than ever as they navigate an increasingly competitive jobs market.