In the Swiss economic ecosystem—marked by a culture of high performance and some of the highest labor costs in the world—a slowdown in activity is an anxiety-inducing anomaly. Whether it is a seasonal downturn in construction, a slowdown in watchmaking caused by exchange rate fluctuations, or a transition between two major IT projects, a “slow period” is the ultimate management stress test.
Silence in the open space often causes more damage than the noise of urgency. Why? Because emptiness leaves room for doubt. “Is the company struggling?”, “Am I still useful?”, “Am I going to be laid off?”. If this climate of uncertainty is not managed with a firm yet caring hand, it leads directly to disengagement—or even quiet quitting.
This guide is not a list of tricks to “keep employees busy”. It is a comprehensive methodology to turn an economic constraint (reduced workload) into an organizational opportunity, using tools specific to the Swiss market.
Diagnosis: Understanding the Psychology of Downtime in Switzerland
Before applying solutions, it is essential to understand what eats away at an inactive team. In Switzerland, the value of work is central. Being paid to do nothing (or very little) is culturally difficult for employees and generates feelings of guilt and uselessness.
The Specter of Boreout
We often talk about burnout (overwork), but boreout (exhaustion caused by boredom) is its evil twin. According to the Job Stress Index published by Promotion Santé Suisse, nearly 30% of Swiss workers feel emotionally exhausted. Boredom at work is a major contributing factor.
The symptoms are subtle:
- Task stretching: A report that used to take 2 hours now takes 8.
- Chronic fatigue: Paradoxically, doing nothing is mentally exhausting.
- Irritability: Minor conflicts escalate because energy is no longer channeled outward (toward clients or projects).
As a manager, your first responsibility is to name the situation. Denying the slowdown (“Everything is fine, we’re overloaded!”) while teams can clearly see the numbers breaks the trust contract.
Financial Transparency as an Anxiolytic
Anxiety is born from uncertainty. During slow periods, employees’ imagination moves faster than reality. They envision bankruptcies, restructurings, and drastic cost-cutting.
The response is radical transparency.
Organize a town hall or team meetings to clearly explain the situation:
- The facts: “Our order backlog is down 15% compared to the same period last year.”
- The causes: “This is due to the slowdown in the German market / the end of Project X.”
- The impact: “We have sufficient cash to operate for six months with no impact on salaries” OR “We need to reduce external costs.”
- The plan: “Here is what we will do during the next three months to prepare for the recovery.”
In Switzerland, treating employees as informed and responsible adults is the best way to maintain loyalty.
Lever 1: Short-Time Work (RHT) as a Management Tool
This is the flagship instrument of Swiss labor law in times of turbulence. Short-time work compensation (RHT) is not a failure—it is an insurance mechanism designed to preserve skills within companies.
Demystifying the Use of RHT
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) designed this mechanism to prevent layoffs during temporary downturns. Yet announcing RHT is often experienced as a shock.
Your narrative must be positive:
- “We are activating RHT to protect the core of the company.”
- “This allows us to keep everyone on board.”
- “This is a temporary measure, not a structural one.”
Managing “Survivors” and “Partial Workers”
The managerial challenge lies in fairness. If part of the team is on 100% RHT (at home) while others are at 50% (on site), tensions can arise.
- Rotation: If the role allows it, rotate teams—one week ON / one week OFF—to keep everyone connected.
- Continuous communication: Do not let employees on full RHT disappear from radar. Keep them invited to information meetings and virtual coffees. Isolation is a precursor to resignation.
Lever 2: Strategic Upskilling (Training)
In Switzerland, the job market is ultra-competitive. Fear of skills obsolescence is real. Turning idle time into learning time is the most powerful motivational lever at your disposal.
Certified Training
The time you never usually have—you now have it. Instead of ad-hoc training, aim for recognized certifications.
- Languages: In a quadrilingual country, improving professional German or English is always a solid investment.
- Professional tools: This is the ideal moment for advanced certifications on your tools (Salesforce, SAP, AutoCAD, Abacus).
- Federal diplomas: During long slow periods, consider supporting key employees through modular federal diploma programs.
Training Funding (Temptraining)
For temporary workers—very common in Swiss industry and construction—remember that the Temptraining fund subsidizes continuing education. This is a strong motivational argument: “Take advantage of this slowdown to get your forklift license or safety training funded.”
Internal Cross-Training (“A Day in My Shoes”)
If training budgets are frozen (often the case during slow periods), opt for internal skill exchanges.
Organize “A Day in My Shoes” sessions:
- The accountant spends a day with customer service to understand billing disputes.
- The developer shadows a salesperson to understand how the product is sold.
Double benefit: It breaks routine (fighting boredom) and improves processes by breaking down silos. When activity picks up again, collaboration will be smoother because everyone understands each other’s constraints.
Lever 3: Intrapreneurship and “Shadow Projects”
Every company carries organizational or technical “debt”: important but non-urgent tasks that are endlessly postponed. Slow periods are the perfect time for a major spring clean.
Hunting Inefficiencies (Kaizen Approach)
Launch a collective challenge: “We have one month to gain 10% productivity in our administrative tasks.”
Ask teams to:
- Map their current processes.
- Identify bottlenecks (unnecessary steps, double entries, redundant approvals).
- Propose and implement solutions.
Example: Redesign Word/Excel templates that have been broken for years. Clean CRM databases (duplicates, obsolete contacts). Digitize paper archives—still common in traditional Swiss SMEs.
Empowering teams to fix their own tools is extremely motivating. They are not “enduring” the slowdown; they are preparing the future acceleration.
Lever 4: Management Through Cohesion
When financial pressure drops, human pressure can rise. Managers must shift posture—from conductor (setting the tempo) to gardener (taking care).
360-Degree Feedback
Annual reviews are often rushed in January between two budget cycles. Use this available time for real career conversations:
- “Where do you see yourself in two years?”
- “What are your current frustrations?”
- “How can I help you grow?”
This is the moment to build loyalty. An employee who feels truly heard during a slow period will remember it when headhunters start calling again.
Low-Cost, High-Impact Team Building
No need for heli-skiing in Zermatt. Cohesion thrives on simplicity.
- Team lunches: Take time to eat together without talking about work.
- Sports: Organize lunchtime running or yoga sessions.
- Sharing workshops: Every Friday, one team member presents a personal passion (cooking, history, astronomy) for 30 minutes.
These moments humanize relationships and strengthen bonds.
Lever 5: Preparing for the Rebound (Forward Planning)
The best way to motivate teams is to show the future. A slow period is not an ending—it is a transition.
Competitive Intelligence
Turn your teams into strategic analysts:
- “What are our Swiss or international competitors doing?”
- “What new products have been launched?”
- “How do they communicate on LinkedIn?”
Compile insights to adjust your commercial strategy. This intellectually stimulating work moves teams away from pure execution.
Product and Service Innovation
Organize internal brainstorming sessions (mini-hackathons) over two days.
Theme: “If we had to reinvent our flagship product or customer service, what would we do?”
Without delivery pressure, creativity flourishes. Many breakthrough innovations are born during economic downturns—when teams finally have time to think outside the box.
The 5 Deadly Traps to Avoid at All Costs
- Micromanagement: Monitoring log-in times or presence minute by minute destroys trust. Accept that productivity decreases when workload decreases.
- Artificial busywork: Giving useless tasks “just to keep people busy” is insulting. Better give half a day off.
- Inequity: Protecting seniors while pressuring juniors (or the opposite). Workload reduction and RHT must be perceived as fair.
- Communication blackout: The manager who isolates themselves to “handle the crisis alone”. Visibility and accessibility are essential.
- Unrealistic promises: “Don’t worry, everything will pick up next month.” If you don’t know, don’t promise. Lost credibility cannot be recovered.
Summary
Keeping teams motivated during slow periods in Switzerland requires agility. You must temporarily change roles: your job is no longer to maximize immediate output, but to maximize the future value of your human capital.
By using short-time work intelligently, investing heavily in training, and cleaning up internal processes, you send a powerful message: “We are using this slowdown to become better.”
When the recovery comes—and it always does—your team will be rested, skilled, united, and ready to outperform competitors who are still struggling to restart their engines.
🔗 Useful Resources
- State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) – Short-Time Work (RHT) Official Swiss Confederation portal explaining short-time work compensation, procedures and employer obligations. 👉 https://www.arbeit.swiss/secoalv/en/home/unternehmen/versicherungsleistungen/kurzarbeit.html
- Promotion Santé Suisse National foundation providing research, tools and indicators on mental health, stress and well-being at work in Switzerland. 👉 https://promotionsante.ch/en
- Temptraining – Continuing Education Fund for Temporary Workers Official training fund supporting upskilling and certification for temporary workers in Switzerland. 👉 https://www.temptraining.ch/en
- Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO / OFS) Official labor market data, employment figures and workforce statistics for Switzerland. 👉 https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home.html
📚 Sources Used
- [2.2] Job Stress Index 2024 Promotion Santé Suisse / University of Bern – National reference study on stress, boreout and burnout in Switzerland. 👉 https://promotionsante.ch/en/job-stress-index.html
- [3.1] SECO – Short-Time Work Compensation Guidelines (2025) Official brochures and legal documentation on RHT implementation and employer responsibilities. 👉 https://www.arbeit.swiss/secoalv/en/home.html
- [5.1] Collective Labour Agreement for Temporary Work (CCT Staff Leasing) Reference framework for training rights, Temptraining funding and employment conditions. 👉 https://www.tempservice.ch/en/collective-labour-agreement.html
- [Internal] Fed Group Practical expertise in recruitment, HR advisory and interim management within the Swiss labor market.
