Swiss small- and medium-sized businesses (KMU) are optimistic about the future
Small- and medium-sized businesses (KMU) are optimistic about their future prospects. A majority see their business as doing well, but nonetheless worry about the uncertainty in the global financial markets.
Confidently into the future
In the Small- and Medium-sized Business (KMU) Barometer that has been created Ernst & Young, every third such business expects an improvement in their business situation within the next six months. Only 9% expect their situation to worsen. The industrial and trade sectors are the most optimistic while the construction and energy sectors are markedly more pessimistic. All in all, more than 90% of small and medium businesses estimate their business outlook to be positive. When asked about the general economic outlook, 59% of respondents expected the economic conditions in Switzerland to remain unchanged in 2013.
Jobs market is cooling
The expectations of businesses concerning the jobs market are more restrained. Compared with the previous survey, the number of those who expected continued job growth has shrunk significantly (from 24% to 16%) while the number of businesses expecting a sinking trend has increased (from 6% to 9%). This change in expectations should indicate that firms may be more selective when it comes to hiring new staff in the near future. The areas of construction and energy especially, but also in trade this development is seen as having the worst impact.
Specialist urgently sought
Businesses are having a difficult time finding enough qualified personnel. 70% of respondents indicated that they had a somewhat difficult or difficult time to in their search for qualified new hires. Only 30% indicated that the recruitment of new personnel was easy or somewhat easy. Especially sought are specialists in the construction and energy sectors while the services industry is not quite as strongly hit by the phenomenon. Almost half of the businesses that participated in the survey feared a loss in sales due to a lack of specialists in the workforce.
