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Switzerland extends professional services deal with the UK

Switzerland and the UK have extended a deal that allows professionals special access to each other's markets until the end of 2025.

Published: 21 November 2022 16:25 CET

A person working on a laptop.

A person working on a laptop. Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

Under the deal, Swiss and British service providers are given easier access to each others’ markets.

“The Services Mobility Agreement (SMA) maintains ease of access for service providers following the end of the free movement of persons between Switzerland and the UK with the latter’s withdrawal from the EU,” said a statement from the economic department at the Swiss Federal Council.

The deal “regulates market access and temporary stay for service providers such as business consultants, IT experts and engineers”, said the Council, adding that it “meets a need” in the Swiss economy.

The temporary agreement, which came into force on January 1st 2021, is to be extended until the end of 2025.

Under the deal, Switzerland grants UK professionals seeking to provide a service in Switzerland access for a maximum period of 90 days per calendar year.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED – What is Switzerland’s deal with the EU?

According to the Swiss Federal Council, more than 4,000 British suppliers have used the 90-day market access option to provide services in the Swiss market since 2021.

The deal also gives Swiss exporters “preferential access” to the UK market in over 30 service sectors, according to the Swiss Federal Council.

In many sectors, service providers no longer need to prove they hold a university degree or have experience in order to be admitted to the UK market.

Meanwhile, some Swiss higher vocational education and training qualifications are now recognised by the UK as equivalent to a university degree. The UK has also simplified some of the procedures for obtaining a business visa.

According to the British government, Switzerland is the UK’s “sixth largest export market for services, worth over £12 billion in exports last year”.

In a statement the UK government said the deal provided certainty for firms in both countries.

“Moving skilled people between countries is vital to services exports, facilitating the delivery of projects and face to face conversations that help to win new clients and get deals done,” said the UK government in a statement.

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'I thought it would be different': What to expect from a seasonal job in Switzerland

In an article published in foreign media on Monday, a South African woman relates her experiences of working in the Swiss Alps during the latest ski season.

Though she had great (and clearly unrealistic) expectations of her two short-stint jobs as a waitress in a ski resort, her hopes were dashed after she was fired from both, subsequently venting her anger on TikTok.

The litany of her complaints includes that her work “was exhausting” and that she and other seasonal personnel were “exploited”.

She even found it unfair that there were … “so many Swiss people”.

“Me not speaking German was really hard. I had to learn so many Swiss drinks. All the beers were in German, so there was a lot to learn.”

It is not clear what the woman thought her job in Switzerland, and in the German-speaking part at that, should legitimately entail, but she concluded that she is “so disappointed with Switzerland. I thought it would be completely different”.

All this brings up the question of what you should reasonably expect from a seasonal job.

But first: what is a ‘seasonal’ job?

As the name suggests, it is temporary, usually short-term work, performed at certain times of the year that are particularly busy for a given industry.

It includes extra help needed by businesses during peak periods — for instance, retailers hiring additional staff during the Christmas shopping season.

In Switzerland, seasonal (mostly foreign) workers are typically hired by winemakers during the grape harvest in early fall, or, as was the case with the South African woman, during the winter sports season.

In the latter case, as relatively few people live permanently in resort areas, there is a shortage of local employees to work in various jobs that are essential for tourism.

Tourists far outnumber the locals in Swiss ski resorts – which means “outsiders” must be hired for the efficient running of the local economy.

However, while the more “glamorous” jobs like ski instructors may be hard to get (sport instructors must have special qualifications and be certified), work in a service sector, which includes hotels, bars, and restaurants, is plentiful.

READ ALSO: How to find a job in winter sports in Switzerland

What about summer jobs ?

They too are considered “seasonal” but would typically be filled by Switzerland-based students rather than people coming from abroad specifically for this purpose, as is the case with the grape harvesting and winter sports sectors.

In Geneva, however, this type of work has become scarce, though it is still available in most other cantons.

READ ALSO: Why it’s becoming more difficult to get a summer job in Geneva

Are seasonal employees really ‘exploited’, as the South African woman claimed?

Though Switzerland has no special regulations for seasonal workers, the usual labour rules and protections apply to them as well.

Like any other job contracts, short-term ones must also be in writing and outline the rights and obligations of both employer and employee.

However, if you think you are being treated unfairly in your seasonal (or “regular”) job, contact your employer in writing to express your position.

If that doesn’t help, your next course of action should be a union (if there is one) and, as a last resort, the cantonal civil court responsible for settling labour disputes.

How can foreign nationals apply for seasonal work permits?

Rules are determined by the candidate’s nationality – as is the case for “regular”, long-term employment.

This means that people from the European Union and EFTA (Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein) can work in Switzerland for up to three months without a permit (they must, however, declare their arrival in the canton within 14 days).

Rules for people from outside the EU / EFTA depend on how long they plan to work in Switzerland.

If it is up to three months, they must apply for a short-stay L permit.

For work contracts of up to four months, a D visa is needed.

You can find seasonal work here.

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