Salary survey shows growing Swiss gender gap

The pay gap between men and women continues to grow in Switzerland, according to the latest statistics issued in a report by the federal government on Tuesday.

Based on a survey of companies conducted every two years, the report shows that the median monthly salary in Switzerland rose in nominal terms to 5,823 francs in 2008 from 5,674 francs in 2006.

The findings reveal the already substantial disparity in pay between men and women widened further during the two-year period.

The survey indicated a median monthly wage of 6,248 francs for men in Switzerland, 19.3 percent higher than the 5,040 francs median salary for women.

This means women fell behind from 2006, when men earned 18.9 percent more than the opposite sex.

The inequality in wages based on gender is among the highest in Europe, despite regulations to eliminate discrimination based on sex.

“It’s difficult to put into reality,” Rachel Peter, a spokeswoman from the federal statistics department (OFS) told Swisster in explaining the growing differences.

The World Economic Forum's annual global gender gap report for 2008 ranked Switzerland in 14th place, behind Scandinavian nations and such countries as Iceland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Latvia, Germany and the United Kingdom. In this year's WEF report, Switzerland ranked 13th.

However, the forum's ranking of 130 countries considers a number of areas of inequality, such as educational attainment, political empowerment and life expectancy, in addition to pay.

The OFS report found that in real terms, factoring in the cost of living, average Swiss pay dropped 0.4 percent over the period, despite a two-percent nominal growth, Peter said.

“Real wages were lower when you take into account inflation,” she said.

Highly qualified expats from outside Switzerland on average earned more than their Swiss counterparts (11,765 francs versus 10,777 francs), according to the survey.

The advantage for qualified foreigners was more marked when they were working in the country on a short-term (L) permit with average pay monthly pay packets 1,235 francs above Swiss levels, while those with B permits gained an average of 2,256 francs more.

Peter said the OFS cannot say exactly why expats are earning such premiums. But "we can suppose that foreigners get more money they are in fields where we can't find people in Switzerland, so to try to attract qualified people companies offer higher wages."

The government said the highest wages for senior staff are paid to people working in Zurich, followed by Basel, Aargau and the Lake Geneva region, while Ticino, the Italian-speaking canton, has the lowest pay levels in the country.

The OFS study found that the top 10 percent of employees earned more than 10,538 francs a month, while the bottom tenth received less than 3,848 francs.

Pay levels for top managers – defined as the 10 percent best paid management staff – varied sharply between sectors.

The median pay for top management exceeded 23,942 francs per month, but sectors such as the chemical industry (38,073), financial services (47,469 francs) and banking (58,333 francs) showed the highest compensation levels.

The figures are based on a survey sent in September 2008 to 45,000 Swiss companies employing 1.7 million salaried wage earners. It does not reflect the impact of the financial crisis and the ensuing recession which has dampened pay levels this year.

The report found that for the most qualified staff, earnings continue to rise, as they have since 2002. Banks continued to show the highest salaries, with median monthly pay of 9,127 francs.

Other high-paying sectors included research and development (8,061 francs) and the chemical industry (7,774 francs).

At the other end of the scale, employees in domestic services earned a median of 3,683 francs, followed by those in the leather and shoe industries (4,259 francs) and the textile industry.

More than one out of four employees in Switzerland earn bonuses in addition to their regular pay. The survey showed that the average bonus reached 13,068 francs in 2008, almost double the level from 10 years earlier.

However, such forms of variable pay are issued disproportionately in sectors such as banking and insurance, with larger sums being dispensed to senior managers.

Three-quarters of bank staff earned an average bonus of 45,300 francs, according to the OFS.

Two-thirds of employees with insurance firms were awarded and average of 19,380 francs on top of their regular pay.