93% of Swiss Higher Education Graduates Get Employed in Their Field of Study, Official Data Shows

Nine out of ten higher education graduates in Switzerland get employed in a job that matches their academic preparation, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) has revealed.

According to a survey conducted by the authority, 93 percent of Swiss tertiary graduates are employed in a job that matches the type of education they have received, Erudera.com reports.

Moreover, cases of higher education graduates who aren’t employed proportionally with their academic preparation or professional skills occurred around the first year of their graduation, depending on the type of degree; between one percent among graduates of a university and ten percent among graduates with a federal certificate

“A high proportion of vacancies has a positive effect on the employment situation of people with tertiary qualifications. A one percentage point higher share of vacancies is associated with a three percentage point lower risk of inadequate employment,” FSO’s press release explains.

The proportion between training and employment is related to the time of when the employment began and the number of job vacancies in this field that are available in the region.

Furthermore, data shows that the majority of university graduates start working in a job that corresponds with their education one year after graduation. Only five percent of students (holders of master’s degrees from a university) and ten percent (bachelors of applied sciences) have been employed in a job of their field while in studies and remained in the same job vacancies for more than three years.

Bachelor diploma holders have a ten percent higher risk of being employed in a place not fit for their preparation than those who started changing jobs after they graduated.

On the other hand, for graduates of higher vocational training (HBB), being employed before graduation doesn’t indicate a lower percentage of finding a job in the field of study. The nature of the training is more practical, which means that training and employment happen proportionally, and also, being unemployed doesn’t represent a break in students’ resumes.

Such claims are confirmed with FSO’s data which reveals that 73 percent of graduates that are holders of federal certificates (EF) began working before graduation. In addition, 78 percent of federal diploma holders (ED) entered the company before graduating. About 60 percent of EF and 69 percent of ED have been employed in the same company for at least three years.

However, graduating from universities in Switzerland can be challenging as 57 percent of students in Switzerland expressed their difficulties in education, mainly related to the content of courses. The survey findings reveal that 33 percent of students were not satisfied with the content of their courses, while 24 percent reported that they experienced a lack of motivation.