Introduction
In Switzerland, it is still considered inappropriate to discuss
wages. Data on workers' average monthly income is difficult to
obtain because no reliable statistics are available and living
costs and salaries vary across each canton.
The taboo surrounding wages and the lack of guaranteed equal pay
for male and female workers suggests that there is still much work
to be done. Many questions remain unanswered – for
example:
- What constitutes a fair or unfair
(ie, extraordinarily high) salary?
- What qualifies as exploitation?
Further, recent trends suggest that young professionals are
being exploited. For example, graduates in certain cantons (eg,
Basel City) receive no monthly wages during their traineeships.
Meanwhile, many directors and CEOs of big companies earn over Sfr1
million a year.
