The IT sector, long synonymous with guaranteed employment in Switzerland, has shown unprecedented signs of vulnerability since the arrival of generative AI.
A clear statistical reversal
In 2022, the unemployment rate in Swiss IT was close to the national average. That is no longer the case today. Unemployment in Switzerland’s IT sector was still close to the Swiss average in 2022, the year ChatGPT was launched, but the gap widened from spring 2023 onward. Last May, the gap reached nearly one percentage point above the national average.
What this means in practice
For recruiters, this shift changes the situation: pure development roles, once easy to fill amid a talent shortage, are now attracting more applications for a relatively stable number of positions, or even fewer in some junior segments. For IT candidates, coding skills alone are no longer enough to secure a position: the ability to operate AI tools, supervise their output, and combine technical expertise with business understanding is becoming the real differentiator. For career development, this means that a junior engineer without a clear specialization—data, cybersecurity, or applied AI—is more exposed than three years ago.
This week: if you work in IT, list the three tasks in your current role that a generative AI tool could already perform partially, and identify one complementary skill—business, project management, or security—to highlight on your profile to stand out.
LinkedIn post idea to adapt
“IT unemployment is now above the Swiss average. It is not AI replacing developers; it is the widening gap between those who operate AI and those who code alone. Here is how I adapted my role this year...”