Find your dream job on the DreamChrono Jobs Board

Find your dream job on the DreamChrono Jobs Board


by Michael Weare

Are you a promising Gruppenchef Assemblage, or a talented Constructeur Mouvement Mécanique? If so, we may have just the job for you. Our new DreamChrono Jobs Board is packed with jobs and career opportunities at all levels for those in the watch industry. And if you can’t find the job you are looking for, why not post your resume on our site and get yourself noticed by hundreds of potential watch employers.

The watchmaking and microtechnology sector currently employs nearly 56,000 people in Switzerland, a figure that has risen by 5.7% and has remained unmatched for over 35 years. Even though there has been a blip in the industry due to challenging market conditions in China and the Far East, the luxury watch industry is still generating plenty of work for the right individuals.

In fact, the last time the Swiss watch industry was as healthy as it is today is way back in the halcyon pre-crisis days of 1975. That’s the last time there were higher employment figures. The top three cantons for employment in the watchmaking industry are Neuchâtel (15,323), Berne (11,184) and Geneva (9,358). The watchmaking sector is also benefiting from increasingly more qualified staff in its workforce.

Watchmaking Career

The DreamChrono Jobs Board will show the latest job offers from some of the leading names in the Swiss watch industry. Now we are actively encouraging leading employers to post their jobs with us.

As with all jobs in any industry, it helps if you know some basic facts about the business you want to work in before you apply for a job. However, in the case of the Swiss watch industry, this is not always easy, as watch brands are shy about releasing their figures, and prefer secrecy to disclosure.

But to give you a rough idea of the size of the Swiss watch industry, in 2012, Switzerland exported 29.2 million watches in 2012, which was a drop of 2.2% on the previous year. In the same period, 1.2 billion watches were manufactured worldwide over the same period. In fact Switzerland’s production figures are a drop in the ocean compared to that of China. China manufactures an average of 663 million watches per year, and is the world’s largest exporter of finished watches, followed by Hong Kong, which produced 354 million, with Switzerland some way behind in third place.

But when it comes to luxury watches, Switzerland is way out in front. Switzerland produces 95% of all watches sold at prices of over 1,000 Swiss francs. And the quality is certainly reflected in the price. A Swiss watch costs on average $739 dollars in comparison to just $3 dollars on average for watches manufactured in China.

Traditionally, December is the slowest month in the calendar for job hunting in the industry. January 2015 shows that watchmakers are still hesitant about hiring, with a 27% reduction on vacancies from the same time last year. But in the Swiss watch industry things can change quickly. A good showing at Baselworld, the watch industry’s largest show, which runs each year in March, can see things turn around almost overnight. A healthy order book from the event can see watchmakers start to earnestly seek out new workers, and the chill in the jobs market can suddenly become as warm as a sunny Basel afternoon.

Check in regularly on the DreamChrono Jobs Board and find the jobs that cover your specific skill sets, whether it be on the technical side of watchmaking, or in the equally important marketing and distribution side. Your future awaits.

    Author Bio

    Articles by Michael Weare

    CONTRIBUTOR

    Michael Weare hails from an international advertising agency background where he handled several well known and highly desirable watch brands; handled, but sadly never got to keep. However it's this exposure that gave him a lasting fascination for watches. Michael was Editor of Click Tempus for over 2.5 years and is now in the same role at Watchuseek, the web's largest watch forum.