Closing the Gender Gap: The Key to Switzerland's Tech Triumphs
Switzerland has emerged as a global leader in women's rights, despite a relatively recent legalisation of women's suffrage. While the nation has made incredible progress in driving greater representation at the senior leadership level, persistent retention challenges threaten to hinder progress, especially in the fast-moving tech sector. Increasing diversity is crucial to closing skill gaps and driving industry progress – check out our market snapshot below:
Switzerland, having legalised women's suffrage only 41 years ago, has become a top-ranking country in women's rights globally.
Despite progress, women still face barriers in the modern workforce, particularly in the tech industry where they represent just 20.2% of employees.
Our research suggests that the Swiss tech talent market is home to around 20,000 vacancies, with fields like machine learning, FinTech, MedTech, and AI engineering experiencing a shortage of candidates.
Addressing gender diversity in tech requires a multifaceted approach, including rectifying biased recruitment processes and ensuring consistent support throughout the talent lifecycle.
Switzerland's proportion of women STEM graduates is lower than the EU average, necessitating action to make routes into tech more accessible for women from a young age.
Strategies to close the gender gap include platforming women, providing unconscious bias training, challenging traditional hiring methods, promoting mentorship initiatives, and partnering with educational institutions.
The benefits of a gender-diverse workforce include heightened belonging, increased productivity, and a better brand value proposition.
Studies show that diversity is a key factor in attracting high-quality candidates, with some willing to take a salary decrease to work for companies with better diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging frameworks.
