They are not blaming Covid – it’s the declining fertility rate:
Switzerland’s ageing population and changing lifestyles are profoundly transforming the labour market.
Source: Demographic shifts cause Swiss labour market crunch – SWI swissinfo.ch
They get it:
The fertility rate in industrialised countries has long been well below the threshold of generational replacement (2.1 children per woman), including in China, where the population decreased in 2022External link for the first time in 60 years.
After explaining this shortage is global, they then trot out the usual solution:
The second approach is to encourage immigration
The problem is there will not be enough skilled workers willing to relocate, particularly when dozens of countries have already announced they intend to address this by importing more workers. Apparently, the get this too though:
But global competition for workers will surely intensify because of the labour shortage worldwide. Countries are looking for ever-more specialised skills-sets, Wanner pointed out, and “it’s not clear that [Switzerland] will be able to maintain its allure for the professional elite”.
