Swiss civilian service admissions reach new high

In 2025, more people than ever will be admitted to civilian service in Switzerland. At the same time, the government and parliament want to make access more difficult.

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Last year 7,211 people were admitted to civilian service. This is 6.1% more than in the previous year and a new record, the Federal Office for Civilian Service said on Tuesday. The previous record was set in 2010 with 6,826 registrations.

The number of days of service also reached an all-time high of just under 1.9 million. More than half of this (50.4%) was accounted for by social services, followed by education (18.1%), healthcare (14.8%) and environmental and nature conservation (9.6%).

At the same time, the number of recognised deployment companies fell by 2.3%. However, according to the office, civilian service is still guaranteed with 15,770 places. The number of disciplinary and criminal offences also fell.

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In order to make it more difficult to join the civilian service, a majority on the political right in parliament decided last autumn to raise the hurdles for joining the civilian service. The army and civil defence should thus have more personnel available.

A committee led by the civilian service association Civiva and the Young Greens has launched a referendum against the change in the law. The amendment to the law will therefore be put to the vote on June 14. Opponents believe that the tightening of the law would reduce civilian service personnel by 40% and jeopardise the institution as a whole.

Adapted from German by AI/ts