Foreign multinationals employ about one in ten
About 11% of Switzerland’s total workforce is employed by affiliates of foreign multinationals according to latest data by the Federal Statistical Office.
In total 468,095 people worked for foreign companies in 2015. This is a slight increase of 0.4% compared with the previous year.
Most of these 11,524 companies have their headquarters in neighbouring Germany (25%), the United States (21%), France (13%) and Britain (6%), the office said in a statement publishedExternal link on Thursday.
Their Swiss affiliates were mainly active in trade, finance and administrative services, including information technology, management and consulting.
Most of these companies employed fewer than 250 people, while about 5% of the multinationals accounted for 345,012 personnel.
These enterprises were primarily located around Zurich and the Lake Geneva area.
It’s the first time the office has compiled separate figures on affiliates and jobs of foreign multinationals established in Switzerland.
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