Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The financial sector in Geneva is likely to face a sharper increase in unemployment as of September, according to Pierre-André Berger, head of a 32-strong team specialized in banking within Geneva’s cantonal unemployment office. Berger, speaking to Swiss news agency ATS, says that the number of unemployed financial industry people rose from 500 to 1,000 between November 2008 and May 2009, but several factors coming together after the summer holiday period could have a negative impact.

He cites the end of numerous short-term contracts and golden handshake agreements that provided three to six months of outplacement help, as well as the arrival on the market of more well-qualified young employees, many of whom opt for unemployment between short-term jobs. Berger also notes in the long article about the employment situation for the finance business in Geneva that unemployment figures for the canton do not reflect the number of workers from Vaud and France who are now unemployed.

Geneva alone has been laying off, monthly, 80 bank employees, 60 in finance and 30 in financial services marketing since November 2008.

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