SHARE
COPY LINK

IMMIGRATION

Bern dishes out more permits for non-EU workers

Switzerland will be able to recruit more non-EU specialist workers next year after the Swiss government agreed to increase the number of work permits for such people.

Bern dishes out more permits for non-EU workers
File photo: The Local

In 2017 there will be 7,500 B and L permits available to non-EU workers, 1,000 more than this year, news agencies reported. However that’s still 1,000 fewer than in 2014.

The increase will come as a relief for cantons that rely on specialist foreign workers such as Geneva, which ran out of permits in March.

In August Geneva cantonal authorities wrote to justice minister Simonetta Sommaruga to say they were extremely worried they could no longer offer the permit to “highly qualified non-European specialists”.

In 2014 the government allowed a total of 8,500 permits (B and L) for non-EU workers, but this was reduced to 6,500 in 2015, following the acceptance of the February 2014 anti-immigration initiative.

In 2015 Geneva was able to top up its cantonal quota with unused permits from 2014, which were held in a federal reserve. But this year both its own quota and the federal reserve were used up by August.

Geneva and other Swiss cities that have a high number of international companies feared the situation could make those employers think twice about remaining in the country.

Economics minister and Swiss president Johann Schneider-Ammann joined with the cantons in pushing for a return to 2014’s level of permits, feeling it would help the economy by creating jobs, said news agencies.

Foreign specialists in certain areas – such as pharmaceutical research and IT – are urgently required, feel the cantons.

However the Federal Council felt an extra 1,000 would be enough, with a further 1,000 to be held in a federal reserve.

Though the situation doesn’t affect EU workers, who can currently be recruited by Swiss companies without restriction, it could be a sign of things to come should the country impose some form of quotas next February in accordance with its implementation of the 2014 anti-immigration initiative.

The Swiss parliament is currently favouring a ‘light’ solution which would see the country favour native workers over EU immigrants in certain sectors or regions only if immigration becomes a particular problem.

But according to a leaked document received by Swiss broadcaster SRF, the EU has “serious reservations” about the legality of the Swiss solution, reported 20 Minutes.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

IMMIGRATION

ANALYSIS: Will immigration to Switzerland continue to grow or could it slow?

In the past few years, an increasing number of foreigners have come to Switzerland, swelling the ranks of its population to 9 million people. Will this trend continue in the future?

ANALYSIS: Will immigration to Switzerland continue to grow or could it slow?

From a country of just 8 million people a decade ago, Switzerland’s population grew to over 9 million residents in 2023 — primarily due to more foreign nationals coming in.

“Switzerland has been in a situation of uninterrupted demographic growth for several decades, and this is explained in particular by the arrival of young migrants, who also contribute to the Swiss birth rate,” Philippe Wanner, professor at the Institute of Demography and Social Economics at the University of Geneva told The Local.

Just in the period between July 2022 and July 2023, for instance, more than 90,000 foreigners settled in Switzerland.

Now forecasts call for the population to swell to 10 million within the next decade — which has prompted the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) to collect enough signatures to launch a national vote in the near future to stop more foreigners from coming into the country.

The SVP argues that Switzerland’s infrastructure — including housing, healthcare system, and public transportation — would not be able to withstand so many more residents.

READ ALSO : Switzerland faces new anti-immigration vote 

This is based on the assumption that as many — or even more — foreigners will continue to move to Switzerland in future, attracted by salaries that are quite a bit higher than the wages they would earn for the same kind of work in their home countries.

But is there a credible scenario under which immigration will slow down?

According to Swiss demographer Hendrik Budliger, high immigration numbers in recent years “don’t necessarily mean the trend will continue.”

Certain things would have to happen at the political and economic level, however — both in Switzerland and abroad — for this scenario to become reality.

These are the main ones:

Fewer people leaving their home countries

One factor, according to Budliger, would be that other countries in Europe that are grappling with labour shortages as Switzerland is “will try to retain or bring back their workforce.”

In Italy and Portugal, for instance, “significant tax deductions are granted” to keep their workers from leaving.

“If more countries create such [financial] incentives to retain employees, Switzerland will become less attractive,” he pointed out.

Economist Manuel Buchmann agreed that  “EU nations themselves need this skilled workforce and are willing to do a lot to ensure that their nationals don’t leave the country.”

Fewer job vacancies in Switzerland

The country is suffering from an acute shortage of qualified workers — the main reason why many employers are hiring workforce from the EU and EFTA (Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein) nations.

If, however, Switzerland’s low unemployment rate should increase, or if suitable candidates can be found within the country, then companies will not recruit employees from abroad.

This is especially true as the Swiss law stipulates that a job can be offered to a foreign national only if no qualified candidates can be found in Switzerland.

Anti-immigration initiatives are accepted

In 2020, 61.7 percent of voters turned down SVP’s proposal to curb immigration from the EU.

This meant that Swiss companies could continue to recruit from those countries.

However, if voters decide to go the opposite way — for instance, by accepting the SVP’s latest anti-immigration proposal — then the government would have to implement measures to drastically curb the number of foreigners coming into the country.

READ ALSO: Why Switzerland can’t rely on foreign workers to fill its labour shortages

SHOW COMMENTS