2020 did not follow any previously established pattern in the Swiss recruitment world. In Q1, we already had started seeing some drop-off in candidate movement related to APAC and the (at the time distant) pandemic.

Q2 was an interesting moment. The Swiss employment market slowed almost to a halt in some key sectors, but the underlying caution at the regional level ensured that it never felt catastrophic. Key positions and some essential contract/project roles contributed to movement in the employment market.

Q3 saw some recovery, as the realisation that some sectors were performing well versus the essential restructuring in others set in. Thankfully, the budgeting season we have historically seen always increase recruitment activity came back, albeit later (mid, rather than beginning of, November).

We can speculate quite confidently that some essential headcount had to be approved, and in some cases fixed-term contracts replaced permanent positions as a (hopefully) temporary measure.

So, what of 2021? A useful indicator EMEA Recruitment uses at year-end is January performance.

If January continues as busily as December, then we can predict at least a good first half of the year, as companies catch up with recruitment moves replacing or backfilling from the moves at the end of the preceding year. It is necessary to add a caveat here, though. Many clients remain apprehensive about the potential end date of lockdown, as well as the economic repercussions, which some feel we have yet to see.

Regardless, we can all agree these are exciting times, and recruitment requirements in Finance in Switzerland remain unpredictable. We certainly hope to see focus gradually swing back to technology (automation and predictive analytics) and how this can improve the efficiency of international Finance functions.

We would love to hear about your experiences in 2021 so far and how you think the pandemic may impact your recruitment processes moving forwards.

Contact our Director - Finance, John Bower, on [email protected] to discuss further or for any assistance with your recruitment needs.

As 2020 came to an end, a lot of us reflected on what last year meant to us, especially working from home.

In March, when the majority of employees were asked to work from home, it was an exciting prospect. It gave us the flexibility that working from the office full-time couldn’t offer. We welcomed the idea of not having a commute and the luxury of being able to make your own lunch everyday with open arms.

However, as we look back on last year, there are definitely some things we want to change in 2021, in order to make our working from home environment even more productive and beneficial. One of the best things about being in the office is being able to see your co-workers.

Although we won’t be able to have office catch-ups in person for a while, planning virtual coffees has been one way of keeping in regular contact with our colleagues, where we can catch up on life outside of meetings!

This is one of the five things we want to change this year, so here are some tips for working from home that we're taking with us into the New Year:

1. Pretend like you are going into the office – When working from home, try to prepare as if you were going into the office. Make a coffee, wear a nice outfit (try to avoid sweatpants!) and give yourself a chance to wake up before logging on.
    
2. Structure your day like you are in the office – At home, you are your own manager. Make sure to segment your tasks over the course of the day, to avoid getting burned out or losing focus.
    
3. Get some fresh air – Weather permitting, it’s important to try and get out if you can. Even if it’s a quick walk around the block!
    
4. Work when you’re most productive – It’s natural for your motivation to rise and fall throughout the day. Make sure you understand your working pattern to capitalise on your most productive periods.
    
5. Stay connected – Video calls are a great way to break up the day and keep in touch with your colleagues.

If you have any other tips for working from home successfully, let us know by contacting Neil Cope at [email protected] 

There's no doubt that 2020 was an unusual year in many ways. In the professional sphere, one of the most significant has been 'The Great Work From Home Experiment’.

For many years, despite the tools and technologies being readily available, many corporate cultures viewed working from home as code for 'Netflix & Chill’. The past year has surely demonstrated that, for most office/computer-based workers, if anything, the opposite applies.

People consistently tell us that their working day has expanded to include their prior commuting time and that, for the majority, their days are longer - accommodating colleagues and video calls across multiple timezones.

Interestingly, people for whom it is an option have also told us how much they have enjoyed the social elements of the occasional day in the office - to the extent that they often feel as if they get less work done while they are there!

We have also identified a third group, who have optimised their use of technology by relocating their WFH to cabins in the mountains - or even entirely different countries!

For us, the big question is this - what happens next?

At some point this year, we hope to return to a situation where groups can congregate more safely and so we are curious to see how corporates respond - whether their suspicion of WFH returns, whether they close offices entirely or look for some sort of meeting-hub hybrid.

Equally, we are also seeing a distinct shift with candidates, who have a far greater expectation of location flexibility than ever before.

Finally, as always, there is the caveat of too much of a good thing - if teams demonstrate that they can collaborate effectively in a distributed manner anywhere in the world, then what is the benefit for a company to continue to employ those teams in a high-cost location?

EMEA Recruitment is proud to be working in collaboration with St. Gallen University’s Institute of Cognitive Automation to bridge the gap between humans and machines.

This research intervention is working with project leaders across Switzerland’s leading businesses, who want to help close the gap between automation and human augmentation.

We know that 70% of digital transformations within businesses fail, but the failure rate has actually increased with technology. St. Gallen University has found that 85% of Data Science projects add no value to a business.

We know that the Future of Work is not solved by one company. Therefore, St. Gallen University’s Cognitive Automation Institute has worked with us to find companies who want to optimise human augmentation.

Project leaders from these businesses are now participating in research to find out where and how they’re going wrong.

The project is broken down into two phases:

Phase 1: Structured Interviews

All participants will receive the critical human and machine teaming design criterion, using a method of inquiry to identify the design challenges in cognitive automation.

Phase 2: Empirical Study

For selected companies, a human and machine solution that addresses the criterion would be defined at a pragmatic level, e.g. process level or judgment level. To impact the company on the criterion identified.

We are delighted to be collaborating with St. Gallen University’s Dr. Chantelle Brandt Larsen on this research.

We look forward to supporting the Institute of Cognitive Automation and our partner businesses throughout this research project, and to working towards a human and machine solution to change the Future of Work.

You can read more about our ongoing partnerships here: https://www.emearecruitment.com/partnerships

If there is anything you’d like to discuss with us or for more information, please contact Mark Robinson in our Swiss recruitment team.

As we enter a new year, the team would like to wish everyone in our network a happy and healthy 2021, and celebrate growth at EMEA Recruitment.

We are pleased to start the New Year with some fantastic announcements!

EMEA is delighted to announce that Hannah Mallia in our Dutch Finance & Accountancy team has been promoted to Director.

Hannah has been with EMEA for just over six years, having joined our Founder, Paul Toms, in expanding our Netherlands operation. She has built an incredible network within the Dutch marketplace over the years; events at Stryker, Heineken, Microsoft and many more have been created through Hannah’s endeavours.

If you’ve worked with Hannah, you’ll know that she always provides passion, drive and humour to make successes happen.

Congratulations, Hannah – here’s to a very bright future with EMEA Recruitment!

In addition, we are pleased to welcome a new face to our Swiss team this year, marking further growth at EMEA Recruitment.

Mark Robinson joins us as an Associate Director, to manage our Finance & Accountancy division in Switzerland.**

Mark brings nearly 25 years’ recruitment experience with him, having led teams across a range of professional services.

With his experience in Financial recruitment, Mark is truly a specialist in this sector – we look forward to working with him moving forward.

Following the holiday season, we are now back at work to help you with your recruitment needs.

Whether you’re looking to hire top talent in the market or are open to a new opportunity yourself for 2021, then get in touch with our consultants.

You can contact our Dutch office on +31 20 808 1102 or the Swiss team on +41 41 508 7007.

We hope to speak to you soon and look forward to further growth at EMEA Recruitment in the year ahead!

**Mark Robinson has since changed roles and is now our Insight & Optimisation Director as of Mid-2023.

As we near the end of 2020, EMEA Recruitment would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

After what has been a strange and somewhat difficult year, we hope that you enjoy the festive season and look forward to whatever 2021 has to bring.

As we’ve been unable to see you (and each other!) in person this year, we thought we’d show you how our teams have been preparing for the holidays…

Although it’s been different, 2020 has still been a busy year for EMEA Recruitment.

We have been delighted to host many virtual events for our network during the year and have welcomed some fantastic guests to the podcast, albeit virtually. We were particularly proud to host indirect tax experts from eBay and Expedia for an EMEA Recruitment podcast special just this month. You can listen to the podcast episode by clicking here.

We are pleased to have some more virtual events already scheduled for 2021, with the hope that we will host some face-to-face meetings in the New Year as well.

During 2020, we were also delighted to partner with two brilliant organisations – Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) and Operation Smile. IMA is our Finance career development partner, while Operation Smile, an international medical charity, has joined us as our podcast partner.

Within EMEA Recruitment, we have been fortunate enough to bring some more people into the business, as well as seeing some well-deserved promotions amongst our staff.

Thanks to the continued efforts of our teams, we were able to launch a Procurement & Supply Chain department in the Netherlands this year. Find out more about this new offering here: https://www.emearecruitment.com/procurement-and-supply-chain

We’d like to thank everyone for their support throughout 2020 and look forward to working with you in the future.

Wishing you a very Happy Holidays and good health for 2021, from all at EMEA Recruitment.