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Foreigners at top end out-earn Swiss

Neuchatel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Top managers’ salaries in Switzerland have continued to rise “sharply”, especially in the financial field, since 2006, and the spread between Switzerland’s lowest paid workers and highest increased, a preliminary government statistical report shows. Well-qualified foreign workers and those with long-term C residence permits out-earn their Swiss counterparts while foreigners with lower qualifications and some border workers earn less than Swiss people in comparable jobs.

Salaries, bonuses for insurers, bankers up sharply 2006-2008

The Swiss Statistical Office Tuesday 17 November issued its preliminary report on salaries in 2008. Salaries remained mostly stable, it shows, with the financial sector an exception: salaries and bonuses both rose, with top managers’ salaries increasing 38.8 percent from 2006-2008, compared to an 11.6 percent increase for top managers in all other fields.

The average salary for the top 10 percent of managers in 2008 was CHF23,942 but this varied enormously by business sector: from under CHF10,000 a month in the hotel-restaurant business to the higher end, CHF38,073 in chemicals, CHF47,469 in financial services and insurance and CHF58,333 in banking.

Annual bonuses added to the wage spread: 25 percent of Swiss workers earn bonuses, but in financial services and insurance this climbs to 67 percent and in banking 75 percent. In banking, the average bonus in 2008 was CHF45,300 (CHF139,500 on average for top managers), and in insurance CHF19 (CHF55,000, top managers). This compares to retailing, where the average bonus was CHF5,280 (CHF21,144 at the top). These are average figures by industry, with wide spreads for individuals within each group.

Average Swiss wages remained stable

The top 10 percent of all wage earners in the country made more than CHF10,538 a month, while the lowest 10 percent earn CHF3,848 a month. On average, Swiss workers earn CHF5,823 a month. But the averages hide a growing concern on the part of the government over the growing spread among different industries:

• personnel services, CHF3,683
• leather and shoe manufacturing, CHF4,259
• textiles, CHF5,026
• chemicals, CHF7,774
• research and development, CHF8,061
• banks, CHF9,127.

Fewer jobs for unskilled or low-skills workers

Another concern for the government is the diminishing number of jobs at the lower end of the pay scale, with workers earning under CHF4,000 a month falling from 20.3 percent to 17.8 percent, a figure that does not correspond to an equal increase in rates of pay.

Foreign workers with skills: paid more than Swiss

Foreign senior managers earn on average CHF11,765 francs compared to their Swiss counterparts, with CHF10,777 francs. But the type of residence permit plays a key role in salaries, with employees who have long-term permits earning closer to Swiss salaries:

• C residence permit: CHF861/month on average more than comparable Swiss
• L short-term permit: CHF1,235 more
• B fixed-term permit: CHF2,256
• G border workers are the only ones among well-qualified staff to earn slightly less than Swiss colleagues.

But for foreign workers with fewer qualifications the ratio is the inverse:

• C permit, CHF861 less
• L permit, CHF1,235 less
• B permit, CHF2,256 less than a Swiss worker, similarly qualified.

Region makes a difference

Salaries also depend on the region, with Zurich paying its well qualified workers the most, CHF12,667 on average, and the Lake Geneva region’s urban centres not far behind, with an average wage of CHF10,833 for well qualified employees. Ticino pays less, CHF8,667 on average.

Links to other sites: Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Le Temps, TSR