Migration, A Significant Improvement of the Professional Situation

Comparison between the professional situation before and after migration, by origin  (Source: Migration-Mobility Survey 2016)

For the majority of migrants (70%), the immigration to Switzerland represents an improvement of their professional situation. However, 12% considered their situation before migrating to Switzerland as better than after.

Important differences are observed according to the origin. For over 75% of the citizens from the South of Europe (Portugal, Italy, and Spain), the situation has improved, whereas the improvement is less pronounced for North and South Americans as well as citizens from the United Kingdom (60%).

Moreover, the situation was more likely to get worse for women than for men (15% women vs. 10% men). An analysis, which further includes the origin, reveals significant differences. On the one hand, nearly no gender differences are observed for citizens of central European countries such as Germany, Austria, and France. In fact, these three countries are characterized by an important proportion of working women. On the other hand, for India, for example, the overall improvement is mainly observed for men – with not even 45% of the Indian women having experienced a progress in their professional situation. Gender differences are remarkable for citizens of the United Kingdom, West Africa and South America as well.