How Siemens Switzerland reaches service technicians via WhatsApp

Recruiting service technicians is considered one of the toughest jobs in talent acquisition. They're rarely at a desk, hardly ever apply through traditional job boards, and drop off the moment they hit a complicated form. Siemens Switzerland found a way around it.

We spoke with Melanie Will, Team Lead Talent Acquisition at Siemens Switzerland, and Roman Freitag, Recruiting Marketing & Talent Attraction Partner. Melanie led the WhatsApp implementation project in 2023; Roman ran the social media campaign with region-specific content.

The problem: a desktop process for people who never sit at a desk

Service technicians are what's known as deskless workers: constantly on the move, always on their phones, with little time and even less patience for multi-step application forms. Siemens' existing recruiting system wasn't built for them:

• A complex applicant tracking system with too many required fields
• Desktop-heavy processes that barely worked on a smartphone
• Standardized forms with no room for mobile applications

The result: qualified candidates dropped off before they had even answered the first question. Not because they weren't interested, but because the process got in their way.

The solution: WhatsApp as an official recruiting channel

In October 2023, Siemens Switzerland rolled out a WhatsApp application solution together with PastaHR — not as a test, but as a fully fledged, equal application channel for their largest job family.

What changed for candidates:

• Apply via WhatsApp: no login, no long forms, no desktop required
• Communication as usual: questions and answers happen directly in the WhatsApp chat, not back and forth over email
• Fast feedback: instead of waiting days, candidates get an immediate response

And what it means for the recruiting team:

• Automatic pre-qualification: must-have criteria are checked in the chat, so the recruiting team sees the best-fit applications first and has all the relevant information at a glance
• Candidate routing: applications go straight to the right recruiter, not into a central inbox
• Document management in chat: documents are collected and assigned directly inside the conversation — no chasing over email, no manual filing
• Campaign tracking: which channel brings how many applications and how many of them are qualified, all visible in one overview

The campaign: dialect instead of corporate-speak

To increase applications through targeted social media ads, the Talent Acquisition team at Siemens Switzerland developed a social media campaign together with a creative agency. The goal was to make WhatsApp known as a new application channel — even among people who weren't actively job hunting. Roman Freitag led this project.

The aim: reach service technicians on their preferred channel and establish WhatsApp as an equally valid way to apply.

The project name Dialekt & Digital said it all: instead of a single message for all of Switzerland, the campaign spoke to service technicians in regional dialects with locally adapted content. No generic corporate ad-speak — just content that felt like it came from someone in the region.

In practice, that meant:

• Videos and copy in the local dialect, different for each region
• No staged images — real glimpses into the day-to-day work
• Ads aimed at people who aren't actively searching but would be open to a move
• No copy-paste of the same message into every region

PastaHR made sure the handoff from the ad to the WhatsApp application was seamless, including close coordination with the external creative agency.

The results: 20x more applications

20x more applications from the combined WhatsApp and social media campaign — and not at the expense of quality: thanks to automatic pre-qualification in the chat, the recruiting team saw the right candidates first.

On top of that:

• Optimized application volume at specific locations
• Improved candidate experience through fast contact and direct conversation
• Siemens is increasingly seen by candidates as a modern employer

What made the difference

• Integrating WhatsApp as an official, equal recruiting channel: not a pilot, but a permanent part of the process
• A consistent mobile-first strategy: from campaign to application, everything on the smartphone
• Regional authenticity: dialect and locally adapted content instead of a one-size-fits-all message
• An innovative mix of digital and personal: technology that enables direct contact rather than replacing it

What the team values about PastaHR

The flexibility to build different application funnels for different roles. The simple WhatsApp integration. The ease of use on both sides — for candidates and recruiters alike. The measurability of every campaign KPI. And a team that responds quickly when technical questions come up.

For anyone considering PastaHR: the platform meets modern recruiting requirements, the WhatsApp integration is straightforward to set up, and the ROI shows up in more efficient processes and a better candidate experience.

What's next

Siemens is planning to extend WhatsApp applications to more job families. The team also wants to refine regional targeting further and automate more steps in the process.

And: the Dialekt & Digital project was awarded 🥇 Gold in the Recruiting category at the Employer Branding Summit 2026 in Vienna.

Is your recruiting still running on forms?

Especially for deskless roles — technicians, healthcare staff, logistics, production — the difference between a form and a WhatsApp application is often the difference between an application and a drop-off.

If Siemens Switzerland can show that the right channel makes the difference, what could be possible at your company?