The news that Switzerland is urgently recruiting 85,000 foreign workers has been making rounds of international media – both print and social – for the past few weeks. What are the claims and the facts?
Originally published by a French magazine, Aufeminin, the article claims that “Switzerland is facing such a severe labour shortage that it is “opening its doors wide” to 85,000 foreigners who would earn up to €6,500 [6,000 francs] per month depending on the job.
Sites that had picked up this article added their own (fake) spin on it – for example, that Swiss government had enacted a law allowing it to urgently to recruit these 85,000 workers.
Facts vs fake news
Shared widely online, the story has sparked interest within the EU, and even as far Tunisia, as reported by RTS public broadcaster.
However, while some elements have a ring of truth to them, most of the information is blatantly false.
What is true, for instance, is that some sectors of the economy – such as healthcare and IT, for instance – do suffer from shortages, though saying that the country is “opening its doors wide” to a wave of immigrants is a gross exaggeration.
READ ALSO: What’s the outlook for the Swiss job market in 2026?
Also, nowhere does the article (or follow-up social media posts) state that only the nationals of the EU and EFTA (Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein) have a free access to jobs in Switzerland, giving a false impression that the country is actually recruiting all foreigners, including those from third countries.
The salaries mentioned – from €3,500 to €6,500 – are also realistic, in other words they are salaries that foreign workers could expect to earn in Switzerland, depending on the position and sector of course. But any commenting on social media suggested that €3,500 (3,270 francs) a month does not go far at all in Switzerland.
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Where does the figure of 85,000 workers recruited by Switzerland come from?
To find out, RTS contacted the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), which nevertheless said it was “unable to determine the origin of this data”.
“According to our research, it comes neither from our services nor from the Federal Statistical Office. We recommend extreme caution when interpreting these figures,” read their statement.
In its investigation of these claims, the RTS looked at Adecco recruitment agency, which is often cited in these articles.
It turned out that in February 2024, Adecco did commit to recruiting 85,000 refugees globally and training 17,000 people by the end of 2027. There is, however, no link to Switzerland and its labour shortage.
Not surprisingly, “we were unaware of this fake news,” said Nadia Vitale, spokesperson for Adecco Switzerland. “In our 2025 Swiss Labour Shortage Index we actually observed that the shortage is easing for the second consecutive year due to the economic slowdown.”
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Deliberate misinformation
According to Patrick Haack, professor of strategy and responsible management at the Business School in Lausanne, “at first glance, this information may seem credible, especially since there is often some truth to it.”
“The intentional dissemination of false content, known as disinformation, is now widespread in both digital and traditional media,” he added.
“In this particular case, it’s probably clickbait, meaning content designed to attract clicks through exaggerated or misleading headlines and visuals.”
READ ALSO: Listed – All the jobs set to be lost in Switzerland in 2026
