As the new Deloitte Talent and Banking Survey reveals, banks have become the most popular industry to start a career for Swiss business students, overtaking Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) yet again. However, the apparent success of banks to attract business students in Switzerland tends to conceal that the recent increase in popularity is only a small rebound from a rather steady decline since 2008. Banks will need to focus on students’ preferences to remain on top.

At the same time student preferences have changed. Remarkably, for the first time in years, a good work life balance is not the most important career goal for Swiss banking inclined students. In total and compared to all Swiss business students, to become a manager or leader is now the most relevant career goal. The results suggest that banks can select from a highly motivated and productive workforce. And there is more good news for big banks’ talent scouts: Providing a good reference and high earnings in the future are both in the top three of banking inclined students’ aspirations as well as their expectations for the industry. To equip their career starters with a reputable name and a high salary – Swiss banking-inclined business students expect around CHF 82,000 at their first employment – will therefore stay main priorities for hiring in the future.

Nevertheless, the Deloitte Talent in Banking Survey indicates that there is still room for improving the attractiveness of banks as first employers. Although finding a leader who supports one’s development is the top aspiration for students interested in banking, when it comes to expectations of banks as employers, this point is only ranked as a mediocre 14th place out of 40 job attributes. If banks want to remain the top first employment address in Switzerland, they will need to improve in offering exactly this quality. Moreover, when seeking to attract the best business school talents, banks need to keep an eye on diversity. From those interested in banking, only 37% are female, a very low share compared to the well-balanced overall distribution. For investment-banking-inclined students, this even drops almost to 34%. These findings suggest that Swiss banks might still be missing out on a rich seam of talent.

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Dennis Brandes - Manager, Research

Dennis is a Research Manager at Deloitte Insight Switzerland in Zurich, specializing on the Swiss economy, the Swiss CFO Survey and the financial services industry. He joined Deloitte in December 2010 after 5 years in the research department of one of the largest Swiss banks, where he had focused on the international aspects of the Swiss economy. Dennis holds a Master Degree in Economics from the University of Basel.