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WORKING IN SWITZERLAND

Why Swiss employees may get higher wages in 2024

Despite recent predictions to the contrary, salaries in Switzerland look set to increase next year.

Published: 13 November 2023 15:14 CET

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Swiss workers may see a wage increase next year. Photo: Jan Vašek from Pixabay

There have been concerns lately that any wage hikes that employees in Switzerland will get in 2024 will be mostly eaten up by inflation.

So, while their nominal salaries (that is, not adjusted for inflationary forces) were to be higher on paper, real wages they will actually receive, which are adjusted for inflation, were forecast not to go up.

A recent UBS survey confirmed earlier findings showing that the expected average wage growth of 1.9 percent next year would not be enough to offset inflation — also hovering at about 1.9 percent.

In fact, “we expect a drop in household disposable income of 0.1 percent,” said UBS economist Maxime Botteron.

However, the latest forecast is not quite as glum.

In an interview with Swiss media on Monday, Severin Moser, president of the Swiss Employers’ Union, said that a real increase in wages should not be ruled out.

How much of a hike can employees in Switzerland expect?

While the 4 to 5-percent increase, as demanded by trade unions, is not realistic right now, “I believe that salary increases could be higher than the inflation rate,” Moser said, though exact increases are yet to be determined.

As always, they will depend not only on specific sectors, but also on individual jobs within those sectors.

READ ALSO: What are Switzerland’s highest paying jobs?

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Which professions in Switzerland are harder for foreigners to break into?

In the past, the ‘division of labour’ in Switzerland was clear: foreign nationals held mostly manual (and therefore lower-paid) jobs, while the Swiss worked in managerial / executive and other middle and high positions.

Many sectors still follow these traditional roles, with some jobs held almost exclusively by Swiss citizens, and others by foreign nationals.

Which jobs are mostly held by the Swiss?

To find this out, the Basel-based consultancy firm, Demografik, surveyed professions with more than 10,000 employees.

It found that “about 60 percent of the country’s masons and flooring installers are foreign-born,” Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), reported.

The comparable figure among the country’s unskilled workers as a whole is even higher — 84 percent.

“Swiss nationals also make up only a third of kitchen assistants and cleaning staffers” — jobs typically held by immigrants with no higher education or vocational training.

On the other hand, Swiss citizens hold a number of jobs that are almost unattainable for unskilled foreign nationals, including police officers, teachers, lawyers, senior administrative staff, and social workers.

Only a small percentage of immigrants work in these professions.

However, they dominate fields such as service staff, chauffeurs, unskilled industrial workers, and construction — jobs where very few Swiss can be found.

Why is this?

“The proportion of foreign workers is highest in jobs that are generally considered unappealing – whether because of the low pay, high level of physical demands or irregular working hours,” said Demografik economist Lisa Triolo.

“Nevertheless, these professions are important for the functioning of the economy, because they are difficult to automate.”

Triolo also found that foreigners mainly work in areas where recruiting employees has been difficult.

“The longer the vacancy period in an occupational group, the higher the proportion of foreigners,” she pointed out. “For example, construction is the sector in which companies take the longest to fill an open position.”

Is this survey objective?

It is, if you focus primarily on unskilled foreign workers, who basically take on jobs that the Swiss don’t want.

The picture is different, however, if you include skilled professionals into the mix.

Many of them hold the same positions, and earn equal or even higher wages, than their Swiss counterparts.

READ ALSO: In which jobs in Switzerland do foreign workers earn more than the Swiss?

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