The geopolitical realignment is creating new opportunities for Switzerland as a financial centre. For its employees, however, the environment is becoming more challenging.
Of those who took part in the career prospects survey conducted by finews, Swiss Finance Institute (SFI) and Communicators, 82.5 percent expect the number of jobs in finance to decline or even fall sharply. Only 4.8 percent anticipate an increase.
Respondents also remain cautious about their own career prospects. Some 39.7 percent rate them as «good/intact» or «very good». Only around 15 percent assess them as outright negative, however, with the large majority falling somewhere in the middle or above.
AI Has Arrived in the Workplace
The influence of artificial intelligence is also becoming clearly apparent. For 49.5 percent of respondents, AI already has a «very strong» or «noticeable» impact on their daily work. A further 38.4 percent use it at least occasionally as a tool. This means that almost nine in ten survey participants now encounter AI in their professional lives.
That is affecting career expectations. Almost half of respondents – 46.3 percent – identify AI as one of the factors most likely to impair their career prospects. Only the relocation of jobs abroad is mentioned slightly more frequently, at 46.7 percent.
No Longer Just the Back Office
Concern is greatest in areas where processes can be standardised. Some 79.1 percent believe that AI is putting back-office and processing functions under pressure. In retail banking, the figure is 63 percent.
Notably, respondents increasingly consider more sophisticated roles to be exposed as well. Legal and compliance are cited by 49 percent, IT by 47.8 percent, and marketing and public relations by 57.3 percent.
However, these figures should be seen as a snapshot of sentiment rather than evidence of a general trend.
Family Offices Emerge as a Career Hope
This is consistent with another finding: respondents see the best career opportunities primarily in areas where personal relationships and individual advice play a central role.
Some 48 percent consider family offices particularly promising. They are followed by private banking and wealth management, digital product innovation, and private equity.
An interesting pattern emerges. While respondents believe that activities which can be standardised are coming under greater pressure from automation, specialised and relationship-intensive roles serving wealthy and ultra-high-net-worth clients are becoming more attractive.
The Human Factor Is Becoming More Important
The AI revolution could therefore enhance the value of skills that machines currently struggle to replace.
Respondents identify social skills and adaptability as important capabilities for the future.
More than half also consider continuous professional development essential. Courses in IT and fintech, as well as risk management, are in particularly strong demand. The immediate relevance of a programme to participants’ everyday work is another important factor when choosing further education.
The successful financial professional of the future will therefore need more than extensive technological expertise. What will matter is the combination of technological understanding, specialist knowledge, adaptability and strong interpersonal skills.
Growing Scepticism About Pay
The subdued career outlook is also reflected in compensation expectations.
Some 28.4 percent of respondents most recently received no bonus, compared with 22.5 percent in 2025 and 19.5 percent in 2024. Because the samples differ, however, these comparisons should be interpreted with caution.
The forward-looking assessment is even more sceptical. Some 46 percent expect average fixed salaries to decline slightly or sharply over the next five years. Only 24.1 percent anticipate higher fixed salaries.
As for bonuses, 56.8 percent expect performance-related pay to decline. Just 19.7 percent foresee an increase.
Dubai Loses Its Appeal
While employees are becoming more cautious about their careers, Switzerland’s financial centre could benefit from geopolitical shifts.
The assessment of Dubai is particularly striking. Only 5.6 percent of respondents now consider it an especially promising financial centre, down from 30.6 percent in 2025.
However, 64.4 percent expect any potential capital outflows from the Middle East to be distributed among several international financial centres rather than flowing to a single destination.
Respondents see Singapore and Zurich as the principal potential beneficiaries. Singapore is identified as a particularly promising financial centre by 40.8 percent, while Zurich receives 18.8 percent.
Here, too, caution is required. Because the 2026 sample is smaller and has a different composition, the change from 2025 cannot be interpreted as an exact shift in international capital flows. Rather, it reflects a marked change in perception.
UBS Relocation Considered Unlikely
The debate over the future regulation of UBS is also occupying the industry.
Some 54.2 percent of respondents consider the risk that the major bank might leave Switzerland because of stricter regulatory requirements to be “fairly low” or “very low”. By contrast, 18 percent regard the risk as «fairly high» or «very high».
There is considerably more agreement about the consequences of such a move. If UBS were to relocate, 77.7 percent would expect fairly or very negative effects on both the financial centre and the Swiss economy.
Hybrid Working Finds Its Balance
Another major transformation of recent years appears to be stabilising.
Some 76.9 percent of respondents worked from home at least some of the time during the past 12 months. From their perspective, a model involving one to three days of remote work per week has therefore become largely established.
Demand for additional remote working appears to be easing, however. Some 60.7 percent would like to work from home regularly in the future.
The price employees are prepared to pay for this flexibility is also revealing: 75.3 percent would not accept any reduction in salary in exchange for more remote working.
In the eyes of many respondents, the Swiss financial sector therefore remains an attractive field in which to work – but one in which competition for the best jobs is likely to become more intense.
Around 700 people took part in the 2026 survey on career prospects in Switzerland’s financial sector. The survey has been conducted annually since 2012.