The Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) argued this week that the CHF 6 billion spent on state employees should be cut, reported 20 Minutes. © Guenter Purin | Dreamstime.comSince 2007, the amount spent on state employees has risen by around a third from CHF 4.5 billion to more than CHF 6 billion. In 2021, there were close to 40,000 people working for the Swiss state, a number the UDC/SVP would like to see cut by 9%. It would also like to see pay cuts to bring the total cost down to CHF 5 billion, said Thomas Aeschi, a member of the UDC/SVP. In 2020, median pay for state employees was 26% higher than median private sector pay. However, according to Thomas Schmutz from the Federal Office for Human Resources, positions have been eliminated over the years at the same time as number have been
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The Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) argued this week that the CHF 6 billion spent on state employees should be cut, reported 20 Minutes.

Since 2007, the amount spent on state employees has risen by around a third from CHF 4.5 billion to more than CHF 6 billion. In 2021, there were close to 40,000 people working for the Swiss state, a number the UDC/SVP would like to see cut by 9%. It would also like to see pay cuts to bring the total cost down to CHF 5 billion, said Thomas Aeschi, a member of the UDC/SVP. In 2020, median pay for state employees was 26% higher than median private sector pay.
However, according to Thomas Schmutz from the Federal Office for Human Resources, positions have been eliminated over the years at the same time as number have been growing. In addition, the department is hiring based on a legal mandate. It is the responsibility of parliament to cut work and the positions that go with it, said Schmutz.
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