“An open and inclusive labour market is important for present and future economic development,” according to a report of the Observatory on the Free Movement of Persons released by the Federal Council on July 1st.
Therefore, immigration from the EU and EFTA (Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein), “is closely linked to [Switzerland’s] economic needs,” the. report states.
How so?
For one, immigrants from those countries help meet the strong growth in demand for highly skilled labour.
But these foreign workers fill all kinds of other positions as well.
“Swiss companies also recruit from the EU/EFTA countries to find workers for simpler tasks, particularly in the hotel and restaurant industry, construction, and industry,” the report notes. “These sectors are often no longer able to fill vacant positions with native workers.”
This last point is especially important in view of longstanding populist claims — by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), for instance — that foreigners take jobs away from the Swiss and therefore immigration should be curbed.
But the report refutes this claim.
In fact, “the activity rate of the Swiss population has continued to increase in recent years,” it found. “This indicates that immigration complements the domestic labour force, not replaces it.”
The report also refutes another SVP argument: that foreigners place additional burden on social insurance.
That is not totally accurate, according to the Observatory.
It found that EU/EFTA nationals contribute significantly more to the state pension fund than they receive back in benefits.
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However, the opposite is true for unemployment insurance— EU/EFTA nationals are heavily represented in sectors where job stability is low, such as seasonal work.
However, these people rarely rely on social assistance benefits (another SVP claim): according to the report, in 2023, the social aid rate for EU/EFTA nationals was 2.2 percent, which is below the national average of 2.8 percent and only slightly higher than that of the Swiss (1.8 percent).
But overall, these foreign nationals pose “no additional burden on social security.”
What about wages?
“EU/EFTA nationals are well integrated into the Swiss labour market,” the report reads.
“And considering comparable characteristics, such as education, occupation, age, and gender, EU/EFTA nationals earn similar average salaries to Swiss nationals.
This income equality is mandated by law:
READ ALSO: Can my Swiss employer pay me less because I am a foreigner?
There is one negative note, however: in Ticino, the risk of wage undercutting for Italian immigrants still exists, though it is illegal.
Here’s an overview of the EU / EFTA workforce in Switzerland:
More than 1.5 million of them live in Switzerland (official statistics don’t distinguish between these two groups, but there are far more European Union nationals living in Switzerland than those from EFTA).
Of the EU citizens, most are from two neighbour states: Italy (338,000) and Germany (323,000).
The next largest group are the Portuguese (255,000) and the French (164,000).
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