According to the president of the Swiss Employers' Association (SAV), higher wages are pointless against the labour shortage.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
It is particularly damaging when the public sector turns this screw, said SAV President Severin Moser.
More
More
Swiss salary illusion: precarious cost of living sets off alarm bells
This content was published on
“You’re from Switzerland, you must be rich!” This is how Switzerland is seen from the outside. The reality is very different.
“If wage competition intensifies, it will not lead to more people and more job opportunities,” said Moser in an interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung published on Saturday.
Aside from wages, companies would have to think about how they can remain attractive to new and existing employees. Better working conditions and additional benefits are conceivable. Moser also mentioned affordable childcare places for working parents. Companies would have to offer new models such as reduced working hours for older employees.
Switzerland is dependent on workers from abroad, said Moser. Moser countered the accusation that immigration was too cheap for employers by saying that the domestic resident population was not simply unemployed and available. “We don’t bring in the foreigners because we don’t want to invest in the locals.” There are basically too few domestic workers who are already trained or who are being trained.
But Switzerland cannot turn the migration screw at will either. Neighboring countries struggled with similar problems. “Germany, France and Italy will not stand by and watch as we steal workers away from them with higher wages,” said Moser.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Swiss Abroad
Thousands of emigrants’ descendants in Argentina demand Swiss citizenship
This content was published on
The latest figures from the Federal Office of Public Health show that lab-confirmed cases dropped from nearly 2,340 to under 2,000 last week.
Swiss cities targeted by Russian hackers during WEF
This content was published on
Russian hackers have targeted canton Schaffhausen and the cities of Geneva and Sierre, paralysing their websites on Wednesday morning.
This content was published on
Paul Hottinguer, a member of one of Switzerland’s most famous banking families, will face trial in Paris for tax fraud and money laundering.
Swiss man who died in Iranian prison had photographed military site
This content was published on
The Iranian judiciary said that the Swiss man who died in an Iranian prison on January 9 had been detained for photographing a restricted military site.
Swiss researchers patent new device for avalanche detection
This content was published on
The WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research said it has granted a group of Swiss researchers a patent for a device to enhance avalanche warnings.
Berset discusses ECHR climate ruling implementation at Davos
This content was published on
Switzerland has submitted a report on the court's ruling in Strasbourg. Berset told Justice Minister Beat Jans that the Council of Europe is reviewing it.
This content was published on
A 27-year-old ski tourer has died in the hospital in Sion, in southwestern Switzerland, after being caught in an avalanche on Saturday.
Swiss health minister criticises Trump’s ‘rash’ WHO exit
This content was published on
Switzerland has expressed “deep” regret over Trump’s decision to withdraw from the WHO, Swiss Health Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider said in Davos.
This content was published on
Job vacancies in Switzerland fell by 10% in 2024, marking the first negative annual balance since the Covid-19 pandemic, says Adecco.
Swiss president meets Zelensky in Davos amid tensions with Europe
This content was published on
Swiss President met Zelensky at Davos. As Zelensky thanked Switzerland, Keller-Sutter said it's too early to discuss a new summit, awaiting Trump's actions.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.