Gender wage gap is shrinking in Switzerland – slowly

The gender wage gap is narrowing in Switzerland, although it remains sizeable and partly unexplained: in 2022 women earned on average 16.2% less than their male counterparts. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox In 2020 the wage gap was 18%, and 19% in 2018, an analysis of all salaries - from the private and public sectors - by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) shows. These disparities are partly attributable to structural differences, such as the level of education, the number of years of service in a company and the hierarchical function exercised, FSO officials explained on Tuesday. They also reflect the different ways in which women and men enter the labour market. It is also important to note that the higher the management function held, the more pronounced the difference in salaries. The wage gap has narrowed for federal, cantonal and municipal employees as a whole (18.1% in 2018, 15.1% in 2020 and 13.8% in 2022) and private sector employees (19.5% ...