Bern (awp/ats) – In 2020, the median salary in Switzerland amounted to 6,665 Swiss francs gross per month for a 100%. Significant disparities remain between branches and 63.5% of low-wage positions are held by women, according to figures from the Federal Statistics Office.
Between 2008 and 2020, the overall gap between the highest and lowest salaries remained relatively stable within the economy as a whole, indicates the Swiss salary structure survey 2020 carried out by the Office Federal Statistics Office (FSO) published on Monday.
The top 10% of earners saw their earnings increase by 11.8%. With an increase of 9.3%, employees belonging to the “middle class” experienced the least marked increase in wages, while the increase in wages for the 10% of the lowest paid amounted to 11 .6%.
Unsurprisingly, branches such as IT (9,206 Swiss francs), the pharmaceutical industry (10,040 Swiss francs) or even banks (10,211 Swiss francs) are clearly above the median level. The salaried “middle class” is represented in branches such as land transport (6310 Swiss francs), health (6821 Swiss francs), machinery industry (7141 Swiss francs) and wholesale trade (7145 Swiss francs) .
Women and low wages
At the bottom of the salary pyramid, the OFS cites retail trade (4,997 Swiss francs), catering (4,479 Swiss francs), accommodation (4,488 Swiss francs) and personal services (4,211 Swiss francs). In 2020, almost half a million people (491,900 exactly, compared to 480,300 in 2018) were in low-wage jobs. Of these employees, 63.5% are women.
The overall wage gap (median value) between women and men is gradually narrowing, also indicates the OFS. It stood at 10.8% in 2020, compared to 11.5% in 2018, and 12% in 2016. This pay gap between the sexes is partly explained by the level of responsibility of the position held, and by the types of economic activities carried out.
The wage gaps between the sexes are all the more marked the higher the position in the hierarchy. Women occupying positions of high responsibility earn 9,249 Swiss francs gross, while the remuneration of their male colleagues occupying the same level of responsibility amounts to 11,116 Swiss francs, a difference of 16.8% (compared to 18.6% in 2018).
At the level of the economy as a whole, the level of remuneration of the Swiss remains on average higher than that paid to their colleagues of foreign nationality, ie respectively 6,988 Swiss francs against 6,029 Swiss francs. For positions requiring a high level of responsibility, however, foreign workers generally earn higher wages than those paid to employees of Swiss nationality, continues the OFS.
Thus, cross-border workers occupying managerial positions earn 10,692 Swiss francs and beneficiaries of a residence permit 12,268 Swiss francs, compared to 10,346 Swiss francs for Swiss employees. This situation is reversed for positions that do not require hierarchical responsibility.
Regional disparities
Regional disparities also persist, shows the OFS. For the most qualified jobs, the levels of remuneration are regularly higher in the Lake Geneva region (11,200 Swiss francs) and in the Zurich region (11,475 Swiss francs). At the other end of the scale, we find Ticino, whether for the most qualified jobs (8,537 Swiss francs) or for those requiring the least qualifications (5,137 Swiss francs).
This hierarchy is explained by the concentration of economic branches with high added value in certain regions, as well as by the structural specificities of the regional labor markets, according to the statistics office.
In 2020, 36.3% of employees (compared to 32.8% in 2018) received bonuses, the survey also shows. For senior executives, the value of bonuses averages 4,617 Swiss francs per year in public administration, 23,097 Swiss francs in retail, 90,264 Swiss francs in the pharmaceutical industry, 127,329 Swiss francs in financial services and 134,381 Swiss francs in banks.
People who do not hold a managerial position also receive bonuses, indicates the OFS, but their average value over a year is much lower (3998 Swiss francs). In the vast majority of economic branches, bonuses represent a component that is increasingly integrated into the overall system of remuneration for salaried work.
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