Switzerland's most popular employers in 2026: watch industry no longer in the top 10
For the eighth time, Handelszeitung, the business magazine PME, and the data and statistics company Statista have identified the 250 most popular Swiss employers based on a comprehensive online survey. There have been significant changes among the companies surveyed in the watch industry.
Breitling achieved a sensational sixth place in last year’s overall ranking, putting it at the top of the list of watch and jewelry companies, but it no longer appears in this year’s list of the most popular Swiss employers. It seems likely that the company simply did not participate. Patek Philippe was also included last year but is missing from the 2026 list.
Image on the left: @ statista
The most popular employers in Switzerland in 2025/2026: Watches/Jewelry
Places 2 to 6 in the watches and jewelry category were taken by Rolex (overall ranking 8), Richemont (overall ranking 20), LVMH (overall ranking 24), Patek Philippe (overall ranking 94), and the Swatch Group (overall ranking 202). Victorinox (overall ranking 35) was newly added to the watches/jewelry list. Last year, the company was listed in the category “Manufacture of food and beverages, other consumer goods; watches/jewelry” and ranked 14th overall.
Only the Swatch Group was able to improve its position, ranking 159th overall in the current list of Switzerland’s most popular employers in 2026.
This means the following rankings for the watches/jewelry category in 2026: Rolex (overall ranking 23), Victorinox (overall ranking 35), Richemont (overall ranking 68), Swatch Group (overall ranking 159), and LVMH (overall ranking 192).
The Swiss Handelszeitung newspaper speculates: “The difficult times in the watch industry, with a strong franc, US tariffs, and the crisis-ridden Chinese market, seem to be leaving their mark.”
The annual ranking is based on a survey of 15,000 Swiss employees. More than 1,800 employers with at least 200 employees in Switzerland were identified from previous year’s data and extensive research in 19 industries. The data was collected between May and July 2025 and included over 200,000 assessments, which were incorporated into the ranking.
