Best practice for effective recruitment in times of skills shortages: Baloise white paper and webinar series for SMEs

Basel, 15 August 2023. Shortages of skilled workers reached a new record level in Switzerland in 2022. This is presenting employers with huge challenges. Recruiting successfully in times of skills shortages requires new strategies, especially for SMEs. With this in mind, Baloise has prepared a white paper that examines where people search for jobs, what role social media plays in recruitment today and what factors are key to attracting and retaining skilled employees. In a five-part webinar series on 24 August 2023, Baloise will delve deeper into these topics, offering insights and practical advice to interested SMEs on recruiting suitable employees.

The Swiss labour market is generally deemed to be stable with a relatively low level of unemployment. However, companies are facing a concerning trend: In 2022, shortages of skilled workers reached a record high in Switzerland. The Swiss Skills Shortage Index, which shows the number of advertised vacancies relative to the number of job seekers, was up by around 21 percentage points on the pre-pandemic figure for 2019. This highlights the discrepancy between the growing number of advertised positions and the number of job seekers in the market.

Skills shortages present huge challenges for SMEs

The shortage of skilled workers is a harsh reality that is felt particularly keenly by Swiss SMEs. Two-thirds of all SMEs have been struggling to find suitable candidates for vacant positions in the past three years.

Against this backdrop, it is crucial for companies to make themselves more visible to suitable, skilled candidates in a targeted manner. But how can they do that? In partnership with Statista, Baloise has prepared a free white paper (in German) that examines where people search for jobs, what role social media plays in recruitment today and what criteria are key to attracting skilled employees and retaining them for the long term. As a dependable partner, we want to support SMEs beyond the remit of the traditional insurance business. Our goal is to meet the complex needs of SMEs by providing them with the tools and innovative solutions they need in order to be successful in the long term, says Senior Online Marketing Manager Manuel Thomas, a member of the agile SME team and in charge of the campaign.

Webinar series: Recruitment in times of skills shortages

In August, Baloise will be hosting a one-day online event as a deep dive into Recruitment in times of skills shortages and an opportunity to enter into direct dialogue with interested SMEs. Over a series of five free webinars, experts will provide advice on how SMEs can find the employees they need even during skills shortages, answering the following questions in the process:

• What does the current shortage of skilled workers mean for SMEs in Switzerland?
• What do SMEs need to offer in order to be able to attract the best candidates?
• Where and how should vacancies be advertised?
• Which social media platforms should employers use and when?
• How can companies attract students from generation Z as prospective employees?

All five webinars will be hosted on YouTube on Thursday, 24 August 2023 between 9am and 3.45pm (in German). The live stream will provide participants with opportunities to put their questions to the experts from Baloise and WebStages. For further information, see: www.baloise.ch/mitarbeiterrekrutierung.

Contact
Baloise, Aeschengraben 21, CH-4002 Basel
Website: www.baloise.com
E-Mail: media.relations@baloise.com / investor.relations@baloise.com
Media Relations: Tel: +41 58 285 70 53
Investor Relations: Tel: +41 58 285 81 81

About Baloise

The focus is firmly on the future at Baloise. We aim to make tomorrow more straightforward, safer and more carefree for our customers, and we are taking responsibility for this today. Baloise is more than just a traditional insurance company. Through our smart finance and insurance solutions, complemented by a whole host of innovative offerings for the home and personal transport, we offer a complete service package. Dependable support, reliable cooperation and trust-based relationships are key aspects of our stakeholder interaction. We take care of financial matters so that our customers can concentrate on the important things in their lives and can find inspiration in the everyday. Baloise, a European company founded in 1863, currently employs 8,000 people at its headquarters in Basel (Switzerland) and across its subsidiaries in Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg. Our services generated a business volume of around CHF 8.8 billion in 2022. Baloise Holding Ltd shares (BALN) are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.