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WORKING IN SWITZERLAND

What happens to your Swiss work permit if you lose your job?

If you are a foreign national, your ability to work in Switzerland is often tied to your permit. But would you be allowed to remain in the country if you become unemployed?

What happens to your Swiss work permit if you lose your job?
Losing your job may mean leaving Switzerland. Image by Joshua Woroniecki from Pixabay

Losing a job is a huge inconvenience to any employee, whether Swiss or not, but it is especially disturbing to foreign nationals.

Whether or not you can remain in Switzerland under such circumstances — and for how long — depends largely on your citizenship and the kind of permit you hold.

As in all other matters relating to employment and residence, EU / EFTA nationals are in a better position than their counterparts from third nations.

The kind of permit you carry is also important: for instance, a C permit is much more valuable in this situation than, say a L permit, which is issued for a limited period of time, usually less than a year.

The most important factor, however, is what kind of passport you hold.

READ MORE: Nine things you need to know about work permits in Switzerland

If you are a national of an EU / EEFTA state, “you may stay in Switzerland for at least six months to seek new employment,” according to State Secretariat for Migration (SEM).

However, you will have to register with your cantonal migration authorities as a job seeker / unemployed person. 

If you don’t find a new job within that time, you may have to leave the country, but can apply for a new permit if you get another employer.

By the way, you can continue to receive Swiss unemployment benefits for up to three months after leaving the country — as long as you are a citizen of an EU or EFTA country and you move to an EU / EFTA member state.

What if you are a citizen of a third country?

You will face more restrictions than people from the EU / EFTA states.

That’s because your work permit is tied to your job, so becoming unemployed would automatically mean losing your permit as well.

However, in some cases, you may not have to leave the country immediately: you can stay in Switzerland, and look for another job, for 30 days from the date the cantonal authorities are notified of your dismissal.

Thirty days is a period that any foreigner, regardless of nationality, can legally remain in Switzerland.

However, given that work permits for third-country nationals are subject to strict criteria and quota system, finding an employer willing to hire you and apply for a work permit on your behalf will likely be problematic — unless you have some specific skills that are in high demand and that can’t be found among the Swiss or EU / EFTA workforce.

READ MORE: EXPLAINED: Switzerland’s planned work quotas for third-country nationals

Is there a (legal) way to remain in Switzerland after losing one’s job?

Actually yes. You can live in Switzerland without working. but the conditions are strict and not easy for just anyone to fulfil.

“To take up residence in Switzerland without pursuing a gainful activity, people such as pensioners, students, or those of private means need to register with the local authorities of the place they reside and apply for a residence permit for non-working persons,” SEM explains.

However, this type of residence permit “will be granted if you can prove that you possess sufficient financial means for you and your family members not to have to rely on Swiss social security benefits,” SEM said.

“Financial means are defined as being sufficient if Swiss nationals in the same situation are not entitled to claim benefits.”

In other words, it helps if you are independently rich.
 
READ MORE: Golden visas: Everything you need to know about ‘buying’ Swiss residency 

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WORKING IN SWITZERLAND

Why does Zurich have the highest wages in Switzerland?

Various studies show that when it comes to salaries, Switzerland’s largest city has an edge over other regions. What is the reason for that?

Why does Zurich have the highest wages in Switzerland?

Switzerland’s wages are famously high overall, but if you analyse them closer, you will see that, salary-wise, some regions fare better than others.

Logically, earnings are higher in large cities than in small towns and rural areas, as that is where most economic opportunities are.

However, income disparities exist even between the urban centres.

This has been shown in various surveys, including the latest one, released this month by HES-SO, the umbrella association of Swiss universities of applied sciences (UAS). 

Unlike general universities, UAS doesn’t offer Master or Doctorate degrees, but rather Bachelor’s programmes linked with a specific professional field. They are often attended by people who had completed their vocational training and wish to further their education.

What did this survey find?

What emerged from this study is that graduates of universities of applied sciences earn significantly more in 2023 that they did two years ago, when the last study was carried out.

Their median annual wage currently amounts to 104,000 francs, compared to 100,000 in 2021.

However, the results also indicate that there are regional disparities, with wages being higher in German than in French-speaking Switzerland.  

Among the cantons, Zurich is in the lead, with a median income of just over 111,000 francs per year.

This is not exactly a new piece of information: statistics show that salaries in Zurich are 10.8 percent higher than in Geneva, and 5.4 percent higher than in Basel.

How can this discrepancy be explained?

The Local put this question to Fabian Büsser, director at Michael Page recruitment agency.

He said that it is a matter of what kind of jobs are most in demand and their geographical location.

“Some of the highest paying jobs are in finance, insurance, IT, and engineering,” he pointed out, most of which are located in the German-speaking part of Switzerland.

“This region accounts for nearly 90 percent of advertised jobs in these sectors and is home to the largest banks, insurers and technology companies, as well as other firms requiring engineers, such as real estate and property,” Büsser said.

According to the latest Michael Page Swiss Job Index, while 89 percent of these jobs can be found in the German-speaking region, only 10 percent are in the French-speaking area (and even fewer — 1 percent — in Ticino).

There is, however, some positive news for the Swiss-French part

The HES-SO survey found that while this region trails behind the German-speaking part, the wages there have increased significantly.

The median annual salary in the Geneva area is 92,300 francs, which corresponds to an increase of 8.4 percent compared to two years earlier.
This is particularly the case in the IT branch, with a median salary of 112,000 francs, followed by finance and insurance, with 106,000 francs.

How do these wages compare to those who graduate from ‘regular’ universities?

Switzerland has several kinds of higher education establishments: cantonal universities and two federal polytechnic institutes: one in Zurich (ETH) and the other in Lausanne (EPFL).

They are considered the ‘highest’ educational institutions.

Graduates of these establishments can earn as much as 10,170 francs a month, which amounts to 122,000 a year.

READ ALSO: How much can you earn with a Swiss university degree?

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