cross-border workers first affected by the watchmaking crisis in Switzerland

Partial unemployment, end of contract or layoffs, cross-border workers who work in the watch industry in Switzerland are going through difficult times. The fall in sales in China and Hong Kong, geopolitical tensions and the strong franc are putting the entire sector at risk. Explanations.

“I didn’t expect it, I went to work as usual and 20 minutes before leaving home, we said, sorry, we can’t anymore, it’s over”. It was last December 5 and Mégane, almost 30 years old, will not soon forget it. For several months, times have been difficult for the Swiss watchmaking industry and French cross-border workers are now paying a high price.

A watch setter, Mégane had been a temporary worker for 18 months at GDL5, a watchmaking group based in Le Locle. He was even promised permanent employment in February. Just before Christmas, the blow was hard. “The announcement was very violent but they clearly had no choicerecognizes the young woman who lives in Villers-le-Lac (Doubs). They reluctantly fired me, there aren’t enough orders anymore.” She therefore does not blame her employers even if “it will be very complicated to find something, with two young children”, she said.

As RTS recalled in December, watchmaking is the economic sector most affected in Switzerland: the unemployment rate has jumped by 70% in one year. And yet, according to the latest figures communicated on January 8, 2025 by the Employers’ Convention of the Swiss Watch Industry (CP), the workforce in the watch sector remains above the 65,000 employee mark, with an increase of 405 positions. (+0.6%) compared to 2023. Among them, there are nearly 25% of French people who cross the border every day.

“There is still a little growth this year, but we have to be realistichowever, explains Ludovic Moya, the secretary general of the CP at the RTS microphone. These figures do not really reflect the current general situation. The majority of businesses are suffering, so it is very likely that there will be a decline in workforce numbers in 2025.”

Because the market has completely turned around. After a surge in sales abroad in 2022 and 2023, order books are emptying. In November, Swiss watch exports were down 2.7% over the first 11 months of the year. Poor results mainly due to the fall in exports to China, down 27% compared to the first 11 months of 2023, and to Hong Kong, down 18.8% over the same period.

According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, the downward trend continues and recovery is slow. Some experts are even talking about 2026. With persistent economic turbulence, geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East and the strength of the Swiss franc which penalizes the competitiveness of Swiss products, it will therefore be necessary “redouble your efforts” as the CP explains in its press release.

“We’re not in the fog but the horizon is quite foggyconfides Ludovic Gambarini, head of communication at the Employers’ Convention of the Swiss Watch Industry, to France 3 Franche-Comté. Companies are once again showing resilience and trying to preserve employability.”

However, there is no question of giving in to panic. “We hope not to have to make redundancies in 2025, it’s never pleasant and we want to keep our skills, assures Ludovic Gambarini. We will find solutions but it’s true that the period is complicated.” We are obviously thinking of the return of the Reduction in Working Hours (RHT). This is the name given to partial unemployment in Switzerland. If for a limited period, a company is in difficulty, it can reduce or completely suspend the work of its employees, without dismissing them. Many subcontractors and a few manufacturers such as Jaeger-Lecoultre located at Le Sentier, not far from Bois d’Amont (Jura), have already been using it for several months.

“We are on 100% RHT for two weeks, then we will be one day per week, confirms Jérôme*. Our largest customer decreased in orders and recovered three quarters of the volume he entrusted to us for manufacturing at home.” The young watchmaker is working for a major subcontractor in the canton of Neuchâtel and is therefore forced to stay at home in Doubs for the moment. “It is planned for three months and we hope that activity will resume after March, he confided to France 3 Franche-Comté. But who can know what will happen? “

He has been working in Switzerland for 15 years now and has never experienced such a situation. “In watchmaking, since 2008, there have been ups and downs but what we hear today is that it is not just a slump and that perhaps we need to review the model, sell watches in another way.”

Be careful, however, warns Ludovic Gambarini, certain brands are still spared by the crisis and the situations vary greatly from one company to another. Enough to still keep (a little) hope for cross-border workers on temporary or fixed-term contracts.

*the first name has been changed.