Switzerland set 2026 quotas for third-country nationals, and how work permit types determine foreigners’s salaries— these are among the news that The Local reported this week. You can catch up on everything in this weekly roundup.
Switzerland sets 2026 quotas for third-country nationals
As in previous years, a maximum of 8,500 skilled and specialist workers from third countries may be recruited in 2026.
For these individuals, 4,500 B permits and 4,000 L permits will be available.
The quotas for service providers from the EU or EFTA, whose assignment in Switzerland exceeds 120 days per year, will also remain unchanged: up to 3,500 permits may be issued, comprising 3,000 L permits and 500 B permits.
In addition, 3,500 permits are set aside especially for workers from the United Kingdom (2,100 B permits and 1,400 L permits).
READ ALSO: Swiss government sets 2026 permit quotas for non-EU nationals
How work permit types determine foreigners’s salaries
Typically, Swiss wages depend on sectors, jobs, and regions.
However, when it comes to foreign nationals, they are also based on work permits – especially for high-level management positions.
A median salary for cross-border workers (G permit holders) was 11,207 francs per month in 2024 – slightly less than that of permanent foreign residents (C permit holders) where the median salary is 11,966 francs a month.
The median salary for those on B permits was the highest, reaching 13,090 francs.
READ ALSO: How wages of foreigners in Switzerland vary depending on type of permit
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Government report outlines benefits and disadvantages of immigration
New Swiss government analysis has shed light on both benefits and challenges of immigration for Switzerland in key policy areas.
On the positive side, the report stresses that “immigration to the labour market is crucial for Switzerland’s prosperity and economic stability.”
On the other, however, it cites challenges such as additional burdens on the small country’s infrastructure.
The government also presented strategies it has devised to counteract potential immigration-related problems, including addressing the housing shortage and contributing financing toward expanding the public and road transport.
READ ALSO: Foreign workers in Switzerland ‘crucial’ to prosperity but pose ‘complex problems’
Job losses to soar in Switzerland in 2026, and beyond
A number of companies and organisations based in Switzerland have already announced they will be laying off hundreds of employees in 2026.
They include 550 redundancies at Novartis, 900 at the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, as well as hundreds of dismissals at UN agencies and other international organisations in Geneva.
Additionally, some Swiss companies – Swisscom among them – announced they will be relocating jobs from Switzerland to foreign countries.
READ ALSO: How many jobs are set to be lost in Switzerland in 2026?
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Rolex and gold bar that Swiss business leaders gave Trump may have been bribes, MPs say
Two Swiss lawmakers have asked the country’s attorney general to probe the legality of gifts reportedly given to US President Donald Trump by Swiss business leaders days before the two nations cut a breakthrough tariff deal.
The ‘gifts’ in question are a Rolex table clock and an engraved gold bar.
They called on prosecutors to investigate whether the gifts may have violated Swiss anti-bribery laws or constituted “undue advantage under Swiss criminal law”.
READ ALSO: Swiss MPs seek probe into lavish Trump gifts after tariff deal
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Some B permit holders have higher salaries than other foreigners – and Swiss nationals as well
In a study of Swiss salaries it published in November 2025, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) reported that median wages for positions requiring a high level of responsibility vary considerably depending on residence permit.
What’s more, in these top-level jobs, foreign workers generally earn higher salaries than Swiss nationals.
The reason, recruitment specialists say, is that many management positions in multi-national companies go to US and UK citizens who, as nationals of third countries, work in Switzerland under a B permit.
READ ALSO: Why do B permit holders in Switzerland earn more than permanent residents?
