For Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, co-president of Chopard, the future looks difficult for the watch industry, which is sorely lacking in manpower. The Watch Industry Employers’ Convention (CP) estimates that it will be necessary to train and recruit nearly 4,000 professionals by 2026.
We were beginning to get used to the short-term fluctuations of the watch industry. But today, the challenge is unprecedented. Since the PC began in 1992 to carry out its surveys on staffing needs, this is the first time that the shortage of manpower has shown itself to be so profound. By 2026, a total of 3,835 employees will have to be recruited or trained, i.e. a 12.5% increase in needs.
As if that were not enough, the results of the survey came out the same day that the RTS revealed that Rolex was planning to set up in Bulle (FR), with 2,000 jobs at stake by 2029.
>> To read again: Rolex wants to create a new production site in Bulle with 2,000 jobs
For Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, interviewed in the 7:30 p.m., dual training is crucial. “But it is certain that the thirty or so apprentices that we train at least each year will not be enough to meet our needs. We need to double, or even triple”, estimates the co-president of Chopard.
Overall, the majority of positions to be filled by 2026 are due to retirements (2,369), to which must be added 1,466 new jobs, necessary to support growth.
Record exports
How did Switzerland, land of watches, come to such a shortage of manpower? According to Marion Vermot, head of the Vocational Training Department at the Convention patronale de l’industrie horlogère, this situation is explained by a “favorable economy, with watch exports which are really very good”.
The figures published by the Federal Customs Administration confirm this. In 2021, the value of watch exports reached a new record: 22.3 billion francs, after a weak year in 2020 (16.9 billion) marked by the pandemic.
Today, growth remains significant for the year 2022, with already 20.4 billion francs exported over the first 10 months of the year.
These professions that we wanted to replace by machines
However, the good health of the luxury industry alone does not explain the labor shortage. The branch also pays for the consequences of the lack of training in certain trades. “A few years ago, we predicted the disappearance of several professions, thinking that they would be replaced by machines. We thought that, for example, polishing trades”, specifies Marion Vermot.
This was without taking into account the rise of fine watchmaking, which favors manual operations. Naël Rexhepi, 19, is an apprentice watchmaker at Chopard. When making this choice, he had not let himself be deterred by the risk of automation in his profession. “It is certain that we are heading towards an era where there will be more machines. Some of the polishers will be replaced, but not all. For many companies, the fact of saying that a part is no longer polished by hand takes away from the prestige of the watch and the jewel.”
Naël Rexhepi, CFC apprentices as a finisher in watchmaking. [RTS]
Research (almost) all trades
Once graduated, in just over a year, Naël Rexhepi will be eagerly awaited on the job market. Almost all technical professions in the sector are surrounded by the increase in requirements. In the top three, we find the polishing-finishing trades in watchmaking (+54%); quality specialists in microtechnology (+24%), a new profession created only 2 years ago; and watchmaking operators (+18%).
Apprentices like Naël, so there are a lot missing to fulfill the objective. According to Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, Chopard is one of the last companies in French-speaking Switzerland to train jewellers. Much more should be done, in both watchmaking and jewellery. “We are studying all the possibilities that exist to fill this need. But in the end, to perpetuate our professions, there will be a shortage of people,” he laments.
Currently, around forty positions are open in production, between Meyrin (GE) and Fleurier (NE). “For the next five years, the rate of 50 to 60 positions per year to be filled is not exaggerated”, anticipates Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, second generation of the Scheufele family, who succeeded the Chopards.
A positive signal for watchmaking
In the meantime, to attract young people who are increasingly heading towards academic studies, players in the sector are stepping up seduction operations. “We are present in fairs such as the Cité des Métiers, or the SwissSkills, which brought together 120,000 visitors in Bern. With this, we hope to restart the machine”, underlines Marion Vermot.
On a company scale, this completely dry job market has something to upset recruiters. But concerning the Swiss watch industry, in particular that of luxury, it can pride itself on believing in its future, by anticipating the creation of such a large number of workers, in a context where certain sectors stick out their tongues.
Holiday Mestiri