{"id":11697,"date":"2026-09-28T16:44:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T14:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jobprofile.ch\/?p=11697"},"modified":"2026-09-28T16:44:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T14:44:40","slug":"indispensable-to-your-employer-and-increasingly-unemployable-to-everyone-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jobprofile.ch\/en\/indispensable-to-your-employer-and-increasingly-unemployable-to-everyone-else\/","title":{"rendered":"Indispensable to your employer and increasingly unemployable to everyone else"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” bottom_margin=”50″ text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” gradient_type=”default” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text text_direction=”default” css=”.vc_custom_1788434024777{margin-top: 50px !important;}”]\n

The hidden employability debt created by technology, processes and ways of working that no longer evolve
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There is a particular type of professional I regularly meet in my work. <\/span>They have done almost everything we traditionally consider right.<\/span><\/p>\n

They joined a solid company. They stayed loyal. They performed. They took on responsibility. They developed considerable expertise. They earn a good salary, enjoy good benefits and sometimes work for a prestigious organization.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, after 10, 15 or 20 years, something changes. <\/span>A restructuring. New management. A redundancy. Or simply the desire to do something else. <\/span>And suddenly, an uncomfortable reality emerges:<\/span><\/p>\n

They have a great deal of experience, but part of that experience has gradually lost its value on the external market.<\/b><\/p>\n

They have not stopped working. They have not stopped performing. They have not become less competent. <\/span>Their professional environment simply stopped evolving at the same pace as the market.<\/span><\/p>\n

While their organization accumulated technological, methodological and organizational debt, they accumulated something else: <\/span>Employability Debt.<\/b>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text text_direction=”default” css=”.vc_custom_1788434106031{margin-top: 50px !important;}”]\n

When 20 years of experience no longer mean 20 years of market-relevant experience
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

I have seen this particularly among experienced professionals in finance and accounting. <\/span>Imagine someone who has spent many years working for a major Swiss corporation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The company is solid. The salary is good. The benefits are attractive. Training is available. The employee is respected and has no obvious reason to leave. <\/span>But look more closely at how the work is actually performed.<\/span><\/p>\n

The systems are old. Many processes remain manual. Reporting has barely evolved. Data still moves largely through spreadsheets. Modern ERP capabilities are absent or underused. Automation remains limited and AI has barely entered day-to-day workflows.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inside that organization, this person may be extremely competent \u2014 perhaps even indispensable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then they enter the external labour market. <\/span>And the reference point changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Elsewhere, professionals doing similar jobs may have spent years working with modern ERP environments, analytics, collaborative systems, automation, structured project methodologies and, increasingly, AI-enabled workflows.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our candidate may have 20 years of experience. <\/span>But another question has to be asked:<\/span><\/p>\n

How much of those 20 years still represents experience the market values today?<\/b><\/p>\n

That is employability debt. <\/span>And it can accumulate almost without being noticed.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text text_direction=”default” css=”.vc_custom_1788434626722{margin-top: 50px !important;}”]\n

The trap: professional obsolescence can be comfortable
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When a company is in serious trouble, the warning signs are usually visible. <\/span>When you are badly paid or working in a toxic environment, you generally know it. <\/span>Professional obsolescence is much more discreet.<\/span><\/p>\n

It can even be extremely comfortable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your salary arrives every month. You know the organization. You understand how decisions are really made. You know the informal processes. You know where the information is and who to call when something goes wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every year, your institutional knowledge increases and you become more valuable <\/span>inside that ecosystem<\/b>. <\/span>But internal value and external market value are not necessarily the same thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

That is the trap: <\/span>You can become increasingly indispensable to your employer while becoming progressively less employable to everyone else.<\/b><\/p>\n

And sometimes you only discover it when you need to leave.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text text_direction=”default” css=”.vc_custom_1788434657689{margin-top: 50px !important;}”]\n

This is much bigger than technology
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

It would be too easy to reduce employability debt to outdated IT. <\/span>It can take several forms.<\/span><\/p>\n