«Human labour will always be needed»

Mr Leist, you are the father of three children aged between 6 and 12. What education would you recommend for them?

My advice to them and all young people is to consciously consider their career choice and ask themselves these questions: What do I like doing? What are my strengths? Which professions best combine my passions and skills?

Fortunately, today's education systems and professions are very permeable. You can continue to develop your skills and take new career paths later on.

Should young people be particularly orientated towards professions of the future?

Above all, they should approach their career choice with an open mind and curiosity. Commercial apprenticeships looked different 20 or 30 years ago than they do today. A certain willingness to adapt is important.

How worried are you that digitalisation will make many professions redundant?

Around ten years ago, one of the first studies on the consequences of digitalisation predicted that almost half of all jobs could be automated. This horror scenario has not yet materialised. Another study in the USA looked at the impact of online translation tools on professional translation services. The results were surprising. It showed that many more texts are being translated today because it is so easy. Translation agencies also work with digital tools and can fulfil more orders. Digitalisation therefore does not mean that fewer translators are needed.

Are young professionals learning today what will be in demand on the labour market tomorrow?

To assess whether young people are learning what they need for their future careers, we need to look at a longer period of time. In doing so, we realise that the Swiss labour market is changing. More and more people are continuing their education and have higher qualifications. However, employers are also demanding ever higher qualifications. The strong growth in employment in highly qualified professions indicates that employees - viewed as a whole - are well able to fulfil the increasing qualification requirements.

It makes sense to engage with new technologies, even if you are not directly affected in your job.

Are there enough training places in the sectors with the greatest demand?

We can see that Swiss companies are responding to demand. 43 per cent of companies that are offering more apprenticeships than in the previous year are doing so because they are concerned about the next generation of young professionals. These are the findings of the 2023 job vacancy barometer conducted by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

How well does the apprenticeship offer match the qualifications that are in demand on the labour market?

The vast majority of those who have completed their apprenticeship find a job. This indicates that they have the qualifications that employers are looking for.

Should every young person, regardless of their professional interests, learn how to use AI applications in order to become employable?

Personally, I think it's always worth getting to grips with new technologies, even if you don't come into direct contact with them in your job.

Can the shortage of skilled labour be compensated for through vocational training? In other words, can young people be specifically motivated to work in those sectors where there is the greatest shortage?

It is important that all young people complete an apprenticeship after compulsory schooling. Companies and their professions are in competition with each other to attract and retain apprentices and workers. To succeed in this, they must offer good working conditions.

Artificial intelligence is taking on more and more tasks. At the same time, there is a huge shortage of skilled labour. How does this fit together?

Generally speaking, technological progress increases productivity. This creates prosperity and this increases the demand for products and services. AI tools also increase productivity. However, this plays a subordinate role in relation to the current demand for labour.

I assume that artificial intelligence will create new professions and that people will be needed to programme AI solutions.

Why is there a lack of specialists on the labour market?

There is currently not only a shortage of skilled workers, but also a general shortage of labour. The reason for this is the rapid recovery of the economy after the coronavirus pandemic across all sectors and many countries. A distinction must be made between this and the structurally changing demand for labour. Sectors such as healthcare and IT will continue to have a high demand for qualified workers in the longer term, which will be fuelled in particular by demographic trends and technological change.

Will it stay that way until today's 14-year-olds start their first job?

The current high demand for labour is due to the good economic situation and will fall again when the economy cools down. However, the structural demand for skilled labour in the IT and healthcare sectors will remain high in the long term.

AI solutions require new skilled labour, right?

I actually assume that new professions and professional activities will emerge. We need people who programme AI solutions. But we also need people who understand them and can use them well without having to programme them themselves.

Our society is getting older. What does this mean for the demand and supply of skilled labour?

The new labour force has already been born and we know how many of them there are. Based on the age structure, we know that more people will retire in the next ten years than young people will enter the labour market. That is a major challenge.

Some of the jobs could still be filled through immigration. Technology can also meet part of the demand. And finally, companies can try to bring more people into the labour market, as has been the case with the increasing participation of women in the labour market in recent decades. It will also be important to keep older people in the labour market for as long as possible and to create attractive framework conditions for this.

Will the shortage of skilled labour soon be history due to the advent of artificial intelligence?

To date, digitalisation and automation have mainly taken on repetitive and sometimes dangerous tasks. AI tools can now increasingly perform analytical tasks, enabling people to complete more tasks more quickly. In the medium term, this can help to cover the demand for labour in certain areas. For example, we are already seeing that industrial robots are particularly widespread in areas where demographic ageing is more advanced.

Will there be too little work for us humans at some point due to technological progress?

Technological progress brings new tools that complement human capabilities. The fear that we will run out of labour has never been confirmed in history, neither after the invention of the loom nor the computer. Professions change, individual activities disappear, but human labour will always be needed.