Salaries in Switzerland

How much money can I make? This is a popular expat question when people consider working in Switzerland or moving to Switzerland. The 2013 Lohnbuch has the answers­ (it better, since it's 800 pages long) but it will set you back CHF 65 and it’s in German besides.

There are also answers to Swiss salary questions on the Swiss Confederation’s website. The catch here is that you must know German, French, or Italian and understand enough details about your job to use this very Swiss form (The Frau was not Swiss enough and got stuck by question three.).

Working in Switzerland

The Swiss Trade Union Federation also has a salary calculator, but again, it is only in French, German, and Italian and has the same problem of being very Swiss and therefore very detailed. 

If you’re looking for some general guidelines, here are a few of the salary reports from the 2013 Lohnbuch that Blick am Abend published on April 2:

(Salaries are per month, times 13 months for a yearly salary)

Director of Zurich Gaswerks: CHF 18,610

Head Physician: CHF 12,824

Zurich Church Minister: CHF 9,084

Zurich Kindergarten Teacher: CHF 5,707

Train Driver: CHF 5,332

Florist: CHF 3,625

Hairdresser: CHF 3,400

Taxi Driver: CHF 3,200

Building Cleaner: CHF 3,200

Circus Artist: CHF 3,000 (no 13th month salary)

According to Swiss News, the average employee in Switzerland is paid CHF 5,823 per month. 

Michael Page also has a salary survey for executive positions in Switzerland, such as HR Director (CHF 185,000 annual average). 

Anyone else know of good ways to find out what you can expect from Swiss salaries?

Only in Switzerland, Part III

I was in the grocery store this week. The woman in front of me bought a bottle of grape juice. She paid for it with a CHF 1,000 bill ($1,136).

Big sale in Switzerland!

Hurry, yodelers. You don't get blockbuster deals like this very often in Switzerland: a savings of 11%? Now that warrants a huge ad.

And try not to faint, but there's a double bonus here, although they've hidden it by using white font on a yellow background. So I'll just tell you so you don't have to squint: The furniture store will even be open on SUNDAY.

Wow. A sale and a Sunday. I hardly know what to do with myself. Besides go shopping, that is.

Dear Frau: Why are the Swiss so rich?

Welcome to the seventh edition of Dear Frau. It’s kind of like Dear Abby, except with an international twist. If you have a question, be sure to contact the Frau and maybe your little Frage will be in next week’s Dear Frau Column.

Dear Frau,

Why are the Swiss so rich?

Curious

Dear Curious

Let me count the ways.

First of all, the smallest Swiss bank note is a 10. The next smallest denomination, the SFr 5 coin, is so heavy you can’t wait to get rid of it. The Swiss planned this and price their bottled water accordingly.

Then there’s the 50-cent piece. These things are so small they tend to get lost and can’t be bothered with. Score another one for Switzerland.

And did I mention the smallest coin is 5-cents? This is a country where pennies are not worthy. Round-up, say the Swiss, round-up!

Another reason the Swiss are rich has to do with loyalty. The Swiss support themselves by being willing to pay more for Swiss Made. They even get weird about stuff like strawberries. One of my Swiss friends once wrinkled his nose at the poor little berries from Spain saying he would wait to buy strawberries until the Swiss ones arrived. Imports are shunned here. See photo above--even tattoos are better Swiss Made.

The Swiss are a cash society. People pay with actual money. Not the illusion of it. So use a 1,000 SFr bill to buy a Coke and you’re fine. Try to pay for the same Coke with a credit card? Forget it.

They charge a lot for water. They charge a lot for Chinese food. They charge a lot to throw out trash.

When your wallet gets stolen (yes, there is crime in Switzerland and it’s big business because you have a pay a lot to get your Swiss cards replaced (SFr 30-40 a card)). But American companies replace stolen cards for free. Suckers.

Customer service phone numbers aren’t free to call because the customer is never right in Switzerland.

It costs three times the price to call Switzerland from Switzerland as it costs to call America from Switzerland.

The Swiss make a lot of money on foreigners by making them renew their permit every year and then they purposely take as long as possible to renew it so they can charge SFr 20 for a piece of paper that states the permit is in the process of being renewed.

Whew. There are many more reasons the Swiss are rich, but the Frau is feeling a bit stingy with her time today. Anyone else have a good reason why the Swiss are rich?