The cost of living in Switzerland – and especially the price of health insurance and basic utilities – increases each year. But do salaries automatically go up as well?
In an ideal world, wages would go up steadily every year to offset higher living costs and boost consumers’ purchasing power.
In reality, however, this is not the case – at least not in Switzerland, where employers themselves, or various negotiations, set these rules
Swiss law does not mandate yearly pay raises for all workers, so whether or not you end up earning more depends on a variety of factors, including the terms of the collective labour agreement (CLA), or of your own employment contract.
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They define – aside from other important employment-related matters like work hours, annual leave, conditions for dismissal, and pension fund modalities – what, if any, pay raises you are entitled to.
The CLA does not guarantee that you will necessarily get the pay raise each year, but it does ensure that your salary will be in line with others in your sector.
If your company doesn’t have a CLA in place, then the conditions for wage hikes are outlined in your individual work contract.
And if you are a union member, they typically negotiate sector-specific increases – though it doesn’t necessarily mean that the employer will agree to grant them.
READ MORE: Which Swiss job sectors have seen the highest wage increases?
Performance-based pay hikes
According to a study carried out in August 2026 by WDW consultants, companies in Switzerland raised their employees’ wages by an average of 2.4 percent in 2026.
However, nearly all of these companies – 97 percent to be exact – reported raising salaries based on performance factors.
“For employees, individual performance, as well as the importance of their role and skills to the company, is playing a greater part in determining by how much their salary actually develops,” the WDW reported.
In concrete terms, “Employees with the highest performance ratings received an average salary increase of around 3.9 percent in 2026,” the study found.
“For above-average performance, the figure is about 3.1 percent; for average performance, about 2 percent; and for below-average performance, 0.8 percent.
Age matters
You are also more ilkely to see your salary grow as you get older.
According to the Swiss Earnings Structure Survey carried out by the Federal Statistical Office in 2026, one of the factors influencing wages is the employee’s age: by far, the highest earners, who benefit from regular pay raises, are those aged 50 and over.
READ MORE: How Swiss salaries increase with age
Do Swiss workers go on strike if they don’t get pay raises?
Unlike many other countries in Europe and elsewhere, Switzerland doesn’t have a ‘strike culture, so industrial actions here are rare.
There are two reasons for this low rate of walkouts.
One are CLAs, which are widely seen as important ‘protectors’ of workers’ rights.
The second one is more ‘cultural’: Swiss firms generally avoid industrial action through the negotiation process, or perhaps the Swiss are more conflict avoidant in nature.
“It is in our genes to solve problems by talking to each other rather than more antagonistic means,” said Hansjörg Schmid, a spokesperson for the Swiss Employees Association.
