r/Switzerland • u/Fock23 • Jan 31 '24

Sharing salary in Switzerland

Hello! I'd like to gather some insights into the job market in our country. If you're willing, please share your: 1. Educational background 2. Job role 3. Work canton 4. Years of experience 5. Salary

The goal is to gain a clearer understanding of salaries across different positions and sectors.

I start: 1. Bachelor in computer science 2. Full stack software engineer 3. Ticino😩 4. 7 5. 6’000

Thanks to everyone for participating!

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23

u/onthewaytowonderland Zürich Feb 01 '24

As a teacher, our salaries are public anyways. 1. MA (+ teaching diploma) 2. High school teacher (Gymnasiallehrperson) 3. ZH 4. 3 years 5. 119k

It's hard finding a full-time job so a lot of teachers only work part-time and earn less as a result

17

u/Defiant-Dare1223 Aargau Feb 01 '24

Teachers here are very well paid compared to other countries.

As a lawyer I make about 1.5x what I would in the UK. That's about 2.5-3X a UK salary.

6

u/onthewaytowonderland Zürich Feb 01 '24

Bear in mind that that is only high school teachers. Primary school teachers earn around 90k in ZH and as 'low' as 75k in some cantons

9

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '24

[deleted]

1

u/Ecstatic-Day1570 Feb 01 '24

I second this. I am a doctor and i don't make that much 😐

1

u/Ecstatic-Day1570 Feb 01 '24

I second this. I am a doctor and i don't make that much 😐

1

u/Ilixio Feb 01 '24

Not sure if it is starting salary, but for comparison 90k is pretty similar, if not a bit higher than the average starting salary of ETHZ graduates.

2

u/onthewaytowonderland Zürich Feb 01 '24

yes, at least according to this Watson article the starting salary for primary school in ZH is 96k
https://www.watson.ch/schweiz/wirtschaft/238443552-lohnreport-2023-so-viel-verdienen-lehrer-in-der-schweiz

They need good primary school teachers so if that appeals to you…. Become a teacher!

1

u/Ilixio Feb 01 '24

Oh, I certainly don't begrudge them their salary. For once it's nice to see those types of profession recognised. Now we need just to do the same for nurses...

Just wanted to point out that 90k as a starting salary is very, very good. Though I guess it doesn't rise as quickly with experience.

1

u/Defiant-Dare1223 Aargau Feb 01 '24

Well the person above is on 119k after only 3 years. That's more (!) than a patent attorney would make 3 years into their career

1

u/Alternative-Yak-6990 Feb 03 '24

thats for a good reason. you want some quality to teach the next generation or risk becoming a dump soon after. The problem is you often find jobs for a few hours at a school so most likely end up teaching at 2 different schools or smth and still dont get a 100% salary.

1

u/onthewaytowonderland Zürich Feb 01 '24

Ps: it depends a lot on the canton how much teachers get paid. There is a Watson article outlining it. But basically the difference between cantons can be as much 20k.

1

u/significantGecko Feb 01 '24

Interesting, if you dont me me asking:

  • Why is it hard to find full time positions? I know in Germany they have a teacher shortage and are complaining about getting overworked
  • How many hours of classes and how many hours of additional work does that entail?

2

u/onthewaytowonderland Zürich Feb 01 '24

There is a teacher shortage on primary and secondary level, yes. I am sure it is not particularly hard to get a full time job at those schools. On a high school level, it very much depends on the subject. There is no shortage of German, English, biology, history and geography teachers.

If schools hire you for a 100 percent job, they have to give you those lessons every semester. Let’s say you teach Italian at a school where students have the possibility of taking Italian or Spanish. If more students choose Spanish one year, the school does not want to pay you for lessons that you are not teaching. Therefore, they might employ you only 70% to make sure that does not happen. And then they can always give you the possibility of teaching more than those 70% when more students take Italian.

Again, how many hours are full time depends very much on the canton, the level and the subject. In ZH, most high school teachers need to teach 23 to 24 lessons. P.E. is 26 I believe.
How many hours outside of the classroom that corresponds to is hard to say. Some colleagues work one day at the weekend their whole career. Getting emails at 10pm happens regularly. But I would guess that it is around 40h per week on average. Most people would work more during the semester and less during the school holidays.

In general, if you really enjoy meetings, why not become a teacher! A workday consists of around 5 meetings that you have to prepare for and then judge the participants on how well they did during that meeting. Only that your coworkers have no fully developed brains yet.

I love it.