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The Swiss labour market in numbers: who works, where, and for how much.

Five million people at work, 626 000 companies, one economy worth CHF 854 billion. How the Swiss labour market is built — in the biggest numbers, with the rules everyone works under.

Published Last updated 6 min read
Painting of the inside of a modern Swiss factory hall with CNC machines, a robot arm, a yellow overhead crane and workers in sunlight
A modern production hall — where one in three Swiss jobs still comes from industry and construction.
01 · The people

Five million people work. A quarter of a million are looking.

Of 9.1 million residents, 5.39 million have a job. The rest are children, students, pensioners, people at home — and 256 000 who want work and have none.

5.39 M
people are in work — 3.49 M Swiss and 1.90 M foreign nationals
BFS SAKE, Q4 2025 [1]
256 000
people are looking for work and have none — 5.0 % by the international (ILO) definition
BFS SAKE, Q4 2025 [1]
3.0 %
registered unemployment — the figure SECO publishes every month. Same country, two ways of counting.
SECO, Aug 2026 [5]
80.8 %
of women aged 15–64 are in the labour force; men: 87.4 %
BFS SAKE 2025 [4]
≈ 47 %
of everyone in work is a woman
BFS SAKE 2024 [2]
1.9 M
people work part-time — 1.35 M women and 0.53 M men
BFS SAKE 2024 [2]
254 000
part-timers would like to work more hours (underemployed)
BFS SAKE 2024 [2]
8 %
of workers hold more than one job
BFS SAKE 2024 [2]
86 000
open vacancies at the end of 2025 — 1.5 jobs in 100 are unfilled
BFS BESTA, Q4 2025 [6]
5.54 M
jobs counted at companies — more than people in work, because some people hold two
BFS BESTA, Q4 2025 [6]
4.33 M
full-time equivalents those jobs add up to
BFS BESTA, Q4 2025 [6]

Full-time or part-time? [2]

Part-time means any position under 90 %. Switch between women and men.

Full-time 62 %Part-time 38 %
1.9 million people work part-time — almost 4 in 10.
02 · The rules everyone works under

What the law guarantees — the minimums.

Swiss employment law sets a floor, not a ceiling. Collective agreements and most contracts give more than these federal minimums.

  • 4 weeks
    paid holiday a year
    5 weeks until you turn 20. Many contracts give 5 or more. [7]
  • 45 h
    maximum working week
    For offices, industry, retail staff and technical jobs; 50 h for everyone else. Overtime pays +25 % unless time off is agreed. [8]
  • 14 weeks
    maternity leave
    80 % of pay through the EO insurance, capped. Working is forbidden for 8 weeks after birth. [10]
  • 2 weeks
    paternity leave
    For the other parent, within 6 months of the birth, 80 % of pay. Adoption: also 2 weeks, shared between the parents. [10]
  • 14 weeks
    to care for a seriously ill child
    Paid leave shared between both parents, to be taken within 18 months. [10]
  • 3 days
    to look after a sick relative or child
    Per case, up to 10 days a year — paid, for any family member or partner. [10]
  • 3 weeks
    of pay when you fall ill, in your first year
    The legal minimum rises with years of service. Most employers insure sick pay far longer; check your contract. [9]
  • 1–3 months
    notice period after the trial period
    1 month in year one, 2 months in years two to nine, 3 months after that. [7]

Federal law as in force in 2026. Cantonal rules, collective labour agreements (GAV) and your own contract can only improve on these minimums, never go below them.

03 · The companies

Where the five million actually work.

626 033
companies in Switzerland
BFS STATENT 2023 [11]
7.7
jobs in the average company — the typical one has 2 people
BFS STATENT 2023 [11]
≈ 690 000
people are self-employed — one in seven workers, most of them a company of one
BFS SAKE 2024, derived [2]

Switzerland as 1 000 companies [11]

Each dot is one in a thousand. Switch from companies to the people who work in them — and watch the three red dots grow.

561 952
micro companies with 1–9 staff employ 1.19 M people
BFS STATENT 2023 [11]
52 476
small companies with 10–49 staff employ 1.02 M
BFS STATENT 2023 [11]
9 791
medium companies with 50–249 staff employ 0.98 M
BFS STATENT 2023 [11]
1 814
large companies with 250 or more staff employ 1.63 M — one in three jobs
BFS STATENT 2023 [11]

Three sectors, one picture [11]

  • Services70 % of full-time jobs
    484 726 companies · 2.67 M full-time jobs · shops, offices, health, schools, transport, IT, banks
  • Industry and construction27 % of full-time jobs
    91 997 companies · 1.04 M full-time jobs · factories, building trades, energy
  • Farming3 % of full-time jobs
    49 310 companies · 0.10 M full-time jobs · farms, forestry, fishing
≈ 2
people on a typical farm
KMU in Zahlen 2026 [11]
≈ 7
people in a typical building-trade company
KMU in Zahlen 2026 [11]
≈ 17
people in a typical industrial company
KMU in Zahlen 2026 [11]
+40 000
jobs added by health and social care, 2019–2023 — the fastest-growing branch
KMU in Zahlen 2026 [11]
04 · The money

What the country earns — and what an hour pays.

CHF 854 bn
Switzerland’s economic output (GDP) in 2024
BFS, Sept 2025 [13]
≈ CHF 94 000
of GDP per resident — calculated: CHF 854 bn ÷ 9.05 M people
calculated from BFS [13]
≈ CHF 200 000
of GDP per full-time job — calculated: CHF 854 bn ÷ 4.3 M full-time equivalents
calculated from BFS [13]
CHF 7 024
median gross wage per month for a full-time job
BFS LSE 2024 [15]
≈ CHF 40.50
the same wage per hour — calculated on a 40-hour week (173 hours a month)
calculated from BFS [15]
CHF 14 304
median in the tobacco industry — the best-paid branch; banks: CHF 10 723
BFS LSE 2024 [15]
CHF 4 744
median in restaurants and hotels — the lowest-paid branch
BFS LSE 2024 [15]
8.4 %
less for women: CHF 6 666 vs CHF 7 276 median — the smallest gap ever measured
BFS LSE 2024 [15]
608 000
people hold a low-wage job (under two-thirds of the median) — 10.8 % of jobs, 61 % of them women
BFS LSE 2024 [15]
CHF 63.62
is what one hour of work costs an employer on average — wage plus social contributions
BFS labour costs 2020 [16]
+1.4 %
real growth of the economy in 2025; per person: +0.5 %
SECO, spring 2026 [14]

Hour, month, year [15]

Drag the hourly rate. Monthly and yearly figures assume a 40-hour week, 12 salaries and no 13th — the way the Federal Statistical Office standardises wages.

Cantonal minimum wages
CHF 20–24.60Median hour
≈ CHF 40.50Top tenth starts
≈ CHF 72
40.50
per hourCHF 40.50
per monthCHF 7 020
per yearCHF 84 240

Right at the Swiss median.

05 · Companies come and go

A record year for founding — and for closing.

55 654
new companies entered the commercial register in 2025 — a record, +5 % on 2024 and +35 % on 2015
IFJ / KMU-Portal [17]
1 in 2
new companies is still there after five years — 38 % in restaurants and hotels, 63 % in health and social care
BFS via KMU in Zahlen 2026 [11]
8 343
companies went bankrupt in the first eleven months of 2025, +50 %. The jump follows a law change on 1 January 2025 that makes tax offices and social insurers push unpaid debts into bankruptcy instead of ordinary debt collection.
Dun & Bradstreet [18]

Where the new companies of 2025 started [17]

Number of new registrations by branch, top five.

  • Crafts and building trades5 829
  • Consulting5 733
  • Real estate5 235
  • Services for people and companies4 353
  • Architecture and engineering4 284

Where founding grew fastest [17]

Change in new registrations, 2025 vs 2024.

  • Zug+19.0 %
  • Appenzell Innerrhoden+17.1 %
  • Obwalden+16.9 %
  • Uri−13.5 %
  • Glarus−8.5 %
06 · Questions people ask

Short answers.

Why does Switzerland have two unemployment rates?

SECO counts people registered at a regional job centre (RAV): 3.0 % in August 2026. The Federal Statistical Office follows the international ILO definition and counts everyone without work who is looking for a job, registered or not: 5.0 % at the end of 2025, or 256 000 people. Both figures are correct; they measure different things.

How many weeks of holiday am I entitled to in Switzerland?

At least four weeks a year, five weeks until you turn 20 (Code of Obligations Art. 329a). That is the legal floor; many employers and collective agreements give five weeks or more, and more again for older staff.

Do most Swiss people work for big or small companies?

Both, in a way. Nine in ten companies have fewer than ten staff, and they employ a quarter of all workers. But only 1 814 companies have 250 or more staff — three in a thousand — and these few employ one in three people. Two in three workers are in companies with fewer than 250 staff.

How much is an hour of work worth in Switzerland?

The median full-time wage of CHF 7 024 a month works out to about CHF 40.50 an hour on a 40-hour week; the best-paid tenth starts at about CHF 72. For the employer the hour costs more: about CHF 64 on average once pension, AHV and other social contributions are added.

How many people in Switzerland work part-time?

About 1.9 million, almost four in ten workers. Among women it is 58 %, among men 21 %. Part-time means anything under a 90 % position, so it includes people on 80 % as well as people on one day a week.

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References

Where the numbers come from.

  1. [1]
    Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — Schweizerische Arbeitskräfteerhebung (SAKE), 4. Quartal 2025: Arbeitsangebot — 5.392 M in work, 256 000 unemployed (ILO), 5.0 %. www.bfs.admin.ch
  2. [2]
    Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — SAKE in Kürze 2024 — part-time, self-employment, underemployment, multiple jobs, participation. dam-api.bfs.admin.ch
  3. [3]
    Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — Vollzeit und Teilzeit — part-time rates by sex. www.bfs.admin.ch
  4. [4]
    Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — Erwerbsquote der Frauen — Legislaturindikator (participation rates by sex, 15–64). www.bfs.admin.ch
  5. [5]
    State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) — Die Lage auf dem Arbeitsmarkt, August 2026 — registered unemployment 3.0 %. www.seco.admin.ch
  6. [6]
    Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — Beschäftigungsstatistik (BESTA), 4. Quartal 2025 — 5.544 M jobs, 86 000 vacancies. www.admin.ch
  7. [7]
    Swiss Confederation — Code of Obligations, Art. 329a — minimum holidays. www.fedlex.admin.ch
  8. [8]
    Swiss Confederation — Labour Act (ArG), Art. 9 — maximum weekly working hours. www.fedlex.admin.ch
  9. [9]
    Swiss Confederation — Code of Obligations, Art. 324a — continued pay during illness (three weeks in the first year of service). www.fedlex.admin.ch
  10. [10]
    Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV) — Urlaube für Eltern und Urlaub zur Betreuung von Angehörigen — maternity, paternity, adoption and care leave. www.bsv.admin.ch
  11. [11]
    HSG Institute for SMEs / OBT — KMU in Zahlen 2026 — BFS STATENT 2023: companies, jobs and sectors by size class; survival rates. www.obt.ch
  12. [12]
    Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — Kleine und mittlere Unternehmen (KMU) — definitions and shares. www.bfs.admin.ch
  13. [13]
    Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — Das BIP der Schweiz ist 2024 deutlich gewachsen — GDP CHF 854 billion at current prices (29 Sept 2025). www.sbfi.admin.ch
  14. [14]
    State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) — Konjunkturtendenzen Frühjahr 2026 — BIP pro Kopf 2025 (real growth 1.4 %, per-capita growth 0.5 %). www.seco.admin.ch
  15. [15]
    Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — Schweizerische Lohnstrukturerhebung (LSE) 2024: erste Ergebnisse — median wage, gap, low-wage share, branches. www.bfs.admin.ch
  16. [16]
    Federal Statistical Office (BFS) via KMU-Portal — KMU in Zahlen: Arbeitskosten — labour cost per hour CHF 63.62 (2020). www.kmu.admin.ch
  17. [17]
    SECO KMU-Portal / IFJ — Neuer Rekord bei Unternehmensgründungen im Jahr 2025 — 55 654 new companies. www.kmu.admin.ch
  18. [18]
    Dun & Bradstreet Schweiz — Konkurse und Gründungen per November 2025 — 8 343 bankruptcies in eleven months, +50 %. hello.dnb.com

All figures were checked against the sources above on 4 October 2026. Figures marked “calculated” are simple divisions of published numbers and are rounded. The “last updated” date at the top changes whenever a figure is refreshed. This page is general information, not legal advice.