Tobacco workers top Swiss wage poll
The average Swiss earned a gross monthly wage of 5,979 francs ($6,490) last year, official figures published on Monday showed.
Senior employees in the tobacco industry were among the most handsomely paid, earning an average 46,315 francs a month, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
Next up were pharmaceutical executives (43,163 francs) followed by those working in the financial sector (42,668 francs).
About 10.7 percent earned less than 4,000 Swiss francs a month, considered a low wage in Switzerland, renowned for its high cost of living.
Men earned on average 18.4 percent more than women, taking home 6,397 Swiss francs compared to 5,221.
Nearly one in three employees received a bonus (30.6 percent), varying from the 4,080 francs received by metal industry workers to the hefty 125,616 francs awarded to investment bankers.
The 5,979 franc average was slightly up on the 5,823 francs earned by workers in 2008, according to the Swiss earnings survey carried out every two years.
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