Recent graduates, rising unemployment: UST DATA (cross-border guide)

Context

In a nutshell

• Master UNI: unemployment at 6.4% in 2025, from 3.9% in 2023
• Bachelor SUP: 4.9% in 2025, up from 3.4% in 2023
• Sectors in difficulty: Music, theatre and design over 10%
• Economic factor grows as a barrier to work

Key facts

• What: UST publishes unemployment rates for 1-year UNI and SUP graduates from
• When: Period 2023-2025, data published August 2026
• Where: Switzerland (national territory)
• Who: Federal Statistical Office (FSO), ILO methodological basis
• UNI master amount: 6.4% unemployment (2025)
• Amount of bachelor's degree SUP: 4.9% unemployment (2025)
• Critical sector: Music and theatre sup at 10.8%
• Resilient sector: Medicine and pharmacy master UNI at 1.6%

The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) today released data on unemployment among graduates of universities (UNI) and vocational colleges (SUPs) measured one year after graduation. The picture shows a clear upward trend between 2023 and 2025, with significant variations depending on the type of training and the field of study.

For master's degrees obtained at universities, the unemployment rate rose from 3.9% to 6.4% over the same period. Holders of a sup bachelor's degree, on the other hand, registered an increase from 3.4% to 4.9%. The methodological basis used by the UST follows the definition of the International Labour Organization (ILO), ensuring comparability with international employment data and reliability

Operational details

Increasing difficulty in finding work 'in line with aspirations'

Formal unemployment numbers are only part of the story. The UST also has an increasing share of graduates who report difficulties in finding employment consistent with their training and career expectations. For university master's degrees, this percentage rose from 30.0% (2022) to 44.1% (2024), an increase of over 14 percentage points in two years. Among sup bachelor's degrees, the jump was from 24.2% to 36.9%, an even more marked increase in terms of relative speed, equal to 12.7 points.

This gap between the availability of 'some work' and 'the desired job' reveals a structural tension in the Swiss labour market. Many young graduates accept jobs below their qualification level, in secondary sectors, with reduced hours or with precarious contracts, simply to stay employed and support housing and living expenses. Ticino and the other Swiss regions are no exception: employment pressure affects the national territory uniformly.

This dynamic means that conventional unemployment statistics underestimate the true discomfort of recent graduates. A young person with a master's degree in Economic Sciences, although finding a job within a year of graduation, could find himself employed in an elementary administrative function instead of a management role, just the kind of disconnect that UST DATA

Recommended tools

For an updated estimate, use the net salary calculator and the CHF-EUR exchange comparator.

Key points

How to enter the job market after graduation in Switzerland

For recent graduates, UST data suggests concrete practical orientations. First and foremost, the choice of sector remains decisive: the data shows that healthcare, medicine, pharmacy and social work offer significantly lower unemployment rates compared to arts, design, general economics and applied technologies. If you are still in the decision phase, evaluate not only your passion for the discipline, but also the national employment reality which registers 1.6% unemployment for doctors and pharmacists, compared to 10.8% for musicians and artists at SUP level.

Second crucial element: accumulate practical experience during your studies. Internships, apprenticeships, laboratory projects and collaborations with companies are not optional, but by now practically mandatory to compensate for the dynamics of Swiss employers' selection. Given that experience is still the number one barrier cited by graduates in difficulty, every week of practice counts for your CV.

Positioning strategies in the national market

Don't wait for formal unemployment to act. If you are still temporarily employed or underutilized, start immediately looking for your next opportunities on specialized job portals. In Switzerland, the main job search channels for university and professional level are visible through dedicated platforms and professional networks specific to sector and canton.

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