2024-10-10 12:47:00
The party’s position has fueled several anti-immigration campaigns and referendums over the years, arguing that foreigners not only commit the majority of crimes and abuse the Swiss social welfare system, but also take jobs away from local people.
«Cheap foreigners push the Swiss out of the job market» The UDC said in his campaign ahead of the 2020 national vote seeking to limit immigration from the EU.
More than 61% of voters accepted the government’s and most political groups’ calls to reject the proposal, soundly rejecting it at the polls.
Is there any truth behind the UDC’s arguments?
There is no doubt that there are many foreign workers in Switzerland.
Data from 2024 revealed that 1.8 million non-Swiss citizens worked in the country. Of these, almost 80% came from the EU/EFTA area or the United Kingdom and 21% from so-called “third countries”.
However, there is no credible evidence that, even if Swiss and EU/EFTA workers they are on equal footing For hiring purposes, employers give top priority to foreigners.
In fact, a study carried out by the Employment Observatory of the University of Geneva, revealed the opposite trend.
“The behavior of companies shows that they take local candidates into greater consideration,” says Professor Yves Flückiger, head of the study.
“If Swiss companies hire foreign workers it is because the regional workforce does not correspond to their needs.”
According to economists, rather than one group usurping another, Swiss and foreign workers complement each other.
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“Unwanted” jobs.
According to Marco Portmann of the Institute for Swiss Economic Policy (IWP) of the University of Lucerne, far from being intruders, foreigners are essential for some sectors, such as construction, healthcare, but also for the hotel and restaurant industry – in other words, “jobs that most Swiss people don’t want.”
Portmann told the Daily newspaper that competition from foreign workers has pushed the Swiss to improve their career opportunities.
“In recent years, increased competition on the labor market due to immigration has meant that the Swiss have become increasingly more qualified,” he explains. This has meant a shortage of less-skilled workers, which must be filled from abroad.
Further evidence that the Swiss have not remained jobless is that in 2023, the latest year for which data is available, “the unemployment rate among Swiss citizens fell to its lowest level,” Portmann said, adding that immigrants were at a disadvantage in the job market. market compared to the Swiss because they need to learn the language, habits and customs of the country.
Countering the frequent arguments in Switzerland against immigration Portmann added: “No sensible person would want to see Switzerland shrink and lose immigrants who are already settled and well integrated,”
What about the SVP’s argument that foreigners can be hired for less money than the Swiss?
Swiss labor law prohibits discrimination based on a person’s nationality, sex, religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
Furthermore, the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (LAC), to which Switzerland is bound, provides that EU/EFTA citizens cannot be treated unfavorably, especially in terms of wages, solely because of their nationality.
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But many immigrants actually earn less than the Swiss
The reason many immigrants learn less than the Swiss is that, overall, the sectors in which many foreigners are employed and the types of work they do within those sectors are generally low-wage.
According to the Tages-Anzeiger, in 2033 the average salary of a foreign worker amounted to around 6,000 francs a month, compared to 7,000 for Swiss citizens.
However, this does not apply to all foreigners because in some jobs foreigners earn more than Swiss people.
If, for example, a foreign person is more qualified for a certain job, has a higher level of education and seniority than their Swiss colleagues, then a higher salary would be justified.
In other words, it is not nationality that determines salary but what the employee can bring to the company.
This means that someone from abroad could earn more than a Swiss employee, as long as he has the skills his company needs.
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