Switzerland is a very important country not only in the European political and financial world, but on the international level also. Perfectionism made it excel in everything it created. From the accurate time telling of Swiss watches to the perfect Swiss chocolate, this country was never disappointing. The Swiss banking system is characterized by the same feature: precision.

In Switzerland the banking system works in such a manner to please both normal people and to respond to the financial needs of large corporations. The country has little flaws on the social and economical level. This made it the perfect candidate for the position it occupied after the First World War. It became the largest gold market in the world. The gold extracted from Russia and from South Africa was bound to leave to Switzerland by agreements signed between these countries. The amount of gold entering Switzerland was of 1000 t every year.

Major gold consuming countries like Italy or India had to buy the necessary amount of the precious metal from there. Italy has a tradition in manufacturing gold jewels. Craftsmen create new designs and recreate the classic ones in a manner which makes Italian jewelry famous worldwide.

In India gold was shipped first of all in exchange of diamonds. Being the owner of a certain amount of gold became soon the best way of keeping savings. In the rural area of India gold is a marker of the social status of a person. During weddings bride have to wear gold jewels and they need to have a dower of gold.

The title of the largest gold market in the world does not belong to Switzerland anymore. The gold mines in Russia and those in South Africa have considerably reduced their production of gold. At the same time other mine were inaugurated in Australia or in America. Those were not as accessible for Switzerland as its two ancient suppliers. Even if Switzerland is no longer the most important international gold market it still remains a very important place for countries that need to buy gold or to sell gold.

In the first Quarter of 2010, the number of jobs available in the Swiss financial sector was around a total of 3,508 jobs. This is an increase of 19 percent over the same quarter in 2009. From the latest report by Finance & Operational Recruitment (FOR) the number of job vacancies in the Swiss financial sector has increased since the summer of 2009 by 35 percent.

Based upon a total of 1,400 banks, insurance companies, accountants and other consultants currently there are 3’508 finance jobs are advertised. That is 35 percent more than in June 2009.

Across the banking sector banks in Switzerland had a total of 1,457 jobs at the end of March 2010. This is 110 percent more than in June 2009.

In Insurance we have seen a slight decline. Across the insurance industry, including health insurance, in the summer of 2009 there was 1,086 open insurance jobs. At the end of March 2010 this had declined to 1,016. This represents a decline of -6.4 percent.

Across the other financial sectors & support industries (Accounting, consulting, IT, etc.) jobs have increased from 819 to 1,035 (+26.4 percent).

The main reasons for this development, is the banks are replacing staff originally cut when they had to reduce costs – during the previous 2 years. For many insurance companies, cost cutting is ongoing. In addition, increased regulatory pressure meant additional experts were necessary.

The report used an index which shows the evolution of online Switzerland job vacancies in the financial sector in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The index is produced every three months by the Swiss financial portal finews.ch with data of the portal JobDirectory.ch.

Switzerland Banking Jobs in focus:

Most banking jobs were offered in late March 2010, Credit Suisse, with 395 jobs, followed by UBS with 336. While at Credit Suisse, the demand last year grew more constant and rose sharply from 2010, at UBS as early as October 2009, there was a significant increase which lasted up to February 2010.

Foreign banks are recruiting

Coupled with this the Foreign Banks in Switzerland are recruiting for banking jobs. This increase reflects recruitment having a high turnover, but also the fact that many institutions consider the adjustment in the private banking as an opportunity to recruit good people.

Swiss Banking looking to the customer:

Almost two-thirds of all vacant banking jobs in Switzerland are for specialists and executives. Only ten percent of the jobs are for employees on the level of clerk or assistant.

The greatest demand for workers is at the customer front. The most common available banking job is for Account Managers in the retail and SME business, followed by Investment advisers in the so-called affluent area (average retail segment).

In relative terms, the number of classical Private Banker -which to serve wealthy clients has grown the most. Since summer 2009, the number of private banking jobs presented has increased from 19 to 45, representing an increase of 140 percent.

Overall – good recruitment growth:

In the first Quarter of 2010, the number of jobs available in the Swiss financial sector was around a total of 3’508 jobs. This is an increase of 19 percent over the same quarter in 2009.