Unemployment Challenges for Workers in Switzerland

Switzerland’s unemployment rate remains low. Yet that doesn’t mean finding work to fit your skills is easy.

“It is not me; it is the job market. I had to tell myself that not to go crazy,” says Marta* a 40-year-old media expert from Poland. She’s been living in Switzerland since 2025 and looking for work for more than a year. She has worked in seven different countries for national television channels and international organisations but says this is the first time she has faced such a wall.

Unemployment in Switzerland is low compared to its peers though it’s been rising since 2023. In the second quarter of the year the country had an official unemployment rate of 3% — Switzerland only tracks people who have signed up or are eligible unemployment benefits.

Taking into account the active population out of work, which aligns with international norms, that figure rises to 4.9%.

This compares with 8.2% in France, 5.6% in Italy and 5% in the United Kingdom.

Officially, unemployment in Switzerland reached 2% in 2023, its lowest level in two decades.

One reason unemployment in Switzerland is lower than in other European countries is because of its specific education system focused on vocational education and training after middle school; roughly two-thirds of school children choose this track. In the dual system, apprentices spend most of the week working in a company while also attending vocational school. This gives young people work experience, employer contacts and qualifications aligned with actual vacancies, helping to reduce the difficult school-to-work transition that contributes to youth unemployment elsewhere.

But that figure tells just part of the story. Swissinfo interviewed ten people for this story. Testimonies all coincide. Regardless of age, sector or nationality, finding a job – especially as a foreigner – in Switzerland is a long and tiresome process with sometimes unwritten rules to follow.

Maria*, 37, from Portugal, holds a PhD in biochemistry. “I have been looking for a job since May 2024, so for two years now. I have sent thousands of applications and had only four interviews,” she says. When she finally secured an interview with a large pharmaceutical company, she says it did not provide feedback on why she was rejected.

“Often, it is not the rejection itself that is hardest. It is going through multiple stages of interviews and still having no idea why you were not chosen,” says Emily Rappitt, a career and hiring expert based in Switzerland.

According to the latest official data published by Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) the average unemployment duration in Switzerland is seven months and rises slightly for executive and C-suite managers.

This compares with nine months for Germany and twenty in France. In Italy, almost half of unemployed people had been looking for work for at least one year. Numbers for the UK were not available.

However, those numbers do not reflect the reality and people that Swissinfo spoke to. Finding work depends on skills, location, residency permit, market needs and sector. Recent data compiled independently by Adecco, a human resources provider, and SECO show that shortages persist in certain industries such as healthcare, IT and engineering, meaning finding jobs in these sectors is easier to find than in more generalist fields such as business administration and office professions.

Some jobs such as those in HR public affairs will be tougher for non-Swiss citizens as they require specific knowledge and familiarity of Swiss law and Swiss political institutions and stakeholders. In 2025, unemployment for foreign nationals reached 8.3% against 3.4% for Swiss nationals.

Furthermore, gender can play a role in finding a job. Data shows that motherhood is associated with lower earnings and slower career progression. Researchers describe this as a “motherhood penalty”, which remains a significant feature of the Swiss labour market.  The main reason is that women in Switzerland often significantly reduce their working hours or even interrupt their careers after giving birth, while the vast majority of fathers — around 85%  — work full-time.

Amina*, a Swiss citizen of Egyptian origin and has lived in Switzerland for 15 years. She is a mother of three and says motherhood and her flexibility came up in an interview. She was denied the job after a question specifically on that issue. She says she has sent hundreds of applications and received only one interview. “I feel like I am being discriminated against because of where I am from, my last name and the fact that I have children,” she says.

Amina is worried about the future. With one income, three children and no family in Switzerland to help, she says it is difficult to make ends meet. “What if my husband loses his job? I do not know what we will do then,” she says.

Vitamin B

Maxime*, 49, a French citizen who has lived in Lausanne for seven years, worked for Philip Morris in human resources and employee engagement before losing his job in April 2025. “I am applying through traditional channels, applying online, sending resumes, but I am also using the contacts I have. I try to stay up to date with courses I might need for future work. Networking plays a big part in the Swiss market,” he adds.

Networking is particularly important in Switzerland. It is commonly referred to as “Vitamin B”, with the B standing for Beziehungen, the German word for relationships. This means attending events in your sector and connecting with people who may be able to refer you for a job. Switzerland offers many events for both international and German-speaking professionals.

“Find advocates in your market: people who know your work, can spot opportunities, make introductions and talk about your value when you are not in the room. Know your own value. Not just your job title, years of experience or the companies you have worked for, but what you personally bring, what you are good at, what you have changed, solved, built or improved,” advices Emily Rappitt a career and hiring expert.

 “I wish I had known this when I first arrived in Switzerland,” says Joanna Czarnecka-Herok, 37, from Poland, who moved to Zurich with her husband and is looking for a job in life sciences. “Applying without contacts does not bring much. I have applied for 200 jobs in a year and landed perhaps ten interviews, but without success.”

She has a PhD in molecular biology and says she was eventually offered a voluntary position (even though she thought it was a job interview for a paid position) despite her university degree.  Her future employer argued that with a residency permit, she must be financially supported by her husband and should therefore accept the free work. Instead of looking for a job, she now offers her services as a consultant in longevity and science. “This was good for my mental health, as I stopped chasing one single job. It is still not enough to sustain myself in this country, but it is a step forward,” she says.

The difficulties that come with AI

The rise of artificial intelligence has also changed the application process. It is now possible to draft a CV and cover letter in minutes, yet the search for work can feel more challenging than it did only five years ago. “Applicant tracking systems and online recruitment already existed five years ago, but what is new is the scale of AI’s impact on applications and on how companies assess candidate fit. It is much easier for candidates today to tailor the language of an application to a job advert using AI. For HR, the challenge is therefore not only processing a higher number of applications but assessing the relevance of the match to the role,” says Katarzyna Czajka, a Senior HR Leader, who works as consultant.

Asked whether she would consider returning to Poland where the unemployment rate is also low at 3.4%, Joanna says: “I want to stay with my husband, and I have invested too much time in looking for a job and networking to give up now.”

However, some interviewees Swissinfo reached out to landed a job within six months. Sara*, 33, was born in Lebanon and grew up in Switzerland. After losing her previous role, she secured a job in media and communications at a major professional-services firm within six months, without relying on personal contacts. “I got very lucky. I know lots of people who have been looking for over a year. The reality is that it is an employers’ market right now, and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of highly qualified people looking for work. Between hiring freezes due to budget cuts and AI advances, it is rough right now,” she says.

*The people interviewed in this story spoke on conditions of anonymity.

Edited by Virginie Mangin/ds