Salary Expectations in Switzerland: When and How to State Them

Few lines in an application cause as much second-guessing as the salary line. Write a number that is too high and you fear being filtered out; too low and you undersell yourself for years. For expats the uncertainty doubles: Swiss conventions around salary differ from those in Germany, the UK, or the US — starting with the fact that many Swiss salaries are paid in thirteen instalments, not twelve.

The good news: the rules of the game in Switzerland are quite clear once you know them. This guide covers when a salary expectation belongs in your application at all, how to phrase it the Swiss way, how to research a defensible figure with the official federal wage calculator, and how the conversation typically plays out in interviews.

Only When the Ad Asks

The most common mistake is volunteering a salary expectation nobody asked for. In Switzerland the convention is simple:

• The ad explicitly requests it ("Please state your salary expectations"): then include it. Recruiters who ask for it use it as a screening criterion, and an application that ignores an explicit instruction reads as careless. One sentence near the end of your motivation letter — or the dedicated field in the online form — is enough.
• The ad says nothing about salary: leave it out of the letter entirely. The topic belongs in the interview, usually raised by the employer in the first or second round. Bringing it up unprompted on page one signals that pay is your primary motivation.
• Never in the CV. The CV documents what you have done, not what you want to earn.

If an online form makes the salary field mandatory and you would rather not commit early, enter a researched range rather than an evasive placeholder — "to be discussed" in a mandatory numeric field mostly annoys the ATS and the recruiter.

The Swiss Format: Gross, Annual, in CHF

When you do state a figure, three conventions matter:

1. Gross, not net. Salary discussions in Switzerland are always about the gross salary (Bruttolohn) — before social security deductions, pension contributions, and taxes.
2. Annual, not monthly. State a gross annual figure in CHF. Monthly figures invite confusion, precisely because of the 13th salary.
3. Say what your figure includes. Specify whether your number is inclusive of a 13th monthly salary, and if the position is part-time, state the workload your figure refers to (e.g. "based on 100%").

About the 13th Monthly Salary

Many Swiss employers pay the annual salary in thirteen instalments: one per month, plus an extra payment usually at the end of the year. There is no general statutory entitlement to a 13th salary — it applies when your employment contract or the industry's collective agreement (GAV/CCT) provides for it, which is very common in practice, as the professional association Angestellte Schweiz explains. Once agreed, it is a fixed salary component, not a discretionary bonus.

For your application this means one thing: ambiguity costs money. "CHF 90'000" can mean 12 × 7'500 or 13 × 6'923. Always write "gross per year, including the 13th salary" (or "excluding"), and ask the same question about any offer you receive.

Range or Single Number?

Both are acceptable in Switzerland; they send different signals.

A practical approach: give a realistic, fairly tight range in the written application, and have a precise target number ready for the interview. Two rules for ranges:

• The lower bound must be a figure you would actually sign for. Assume the negotiation will gravitate toward it.
• Keep the range credible. A very wide range says "I have no idea what I'm worth".

Researching Your Market Value

A salary expectation is only as strong as the research behind it. In Switzerland you have an unusually good official tool for this.

Salarium — the Federal Wage Calculator

Salarium, the statistical wage calculator of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), computes the typical gross monthly wage — the median plus the range around it — for a specific position based on the national wage structure survey. You select the region, industry, occupation group, and your individual profile (age, education, years of service, workload), and get a statistically grounded picture of what people like you earn in jobs like this one. The calculator is free, available in four languages, and runs directly at salarium.bfs.admin.ch.

Two tips when using it: run the calculation for the region of the job, not the region you live in — the same role pays differently in Zurich, Ticino, and Espace Mittelland — and remember Salarium shows monthly figures, so convert to an annual value before quoting anything.

Complementary Sources

• Collective agreements (GAV/CCT): if the industry has one, it often defines minimum wages by role and experience — a hard floor for your range.
• Professional and industry associations: many publish salary recommendations or member surveys for their field.
• Job portals and recruiters: salary tools on major Swiss job boards and a candid conversation with a recruiter add current market colour that statistics lag behind.

Example Sentences

The figures below are placeholders — replace them with the number your own research supports.

1. "My salary expectation is a gross annual salary of CHF 90'000–96'000, including the 13th monthly salary."
2. "Based on my experience and current market benchmarks, I envisage an annual gross salary in the range of CHF 85'000 to 92'000. I am happy to discuss the details in person."
3. "For this position I would expect a gross annual salary of around CHF 105'000 (based on a 100% workload); the overall package matters more to me than the exact figure."
4. In the interview: "I've done my research for this role and region. My target is CHF 95'000 gross per year, including the 13th salary — how does that fit your budget for the position?"

Salary Talk in the Interview

In most Swiss hiring processes the employer raises salary — often briefly in the first interview ("What are your salary expectations?") and in more depth in the second. A few basics:

• Don't dodge the question. When asked, give your researched number or range calmly, add one sentence of justification (market data, your experience), and then stop talking. Silence after a number is negotiation, not awkwardness.
• Think in total compensation. The 13th salary, bonus schemes, pension-fund contributions above the legal minimum, vacation days, training budgets, and flexible working all have real value. If the base salary is capped, negotiate the package.
• Never anchor on your old salary alone. Your previous pay is context, not a ceiling. The relevant question is what this role, in this region, at this company is worth.
• Practise out loud. Most people have never actually said "ninety-five thousand francs" in a sentence about themselves. The first time should not be in the real interview. Our interview preparation guide and the 30 most common Swiss interview questions help you build a routine around exactly this kind of question.

Where preparAItor Fits

preparAItor doesn't tell you what you're worth — that's what Salarium and your research are for. But it helps you deliver the number well:

• The salary sentence, placed naturally. When an ad demands a salary expectation, a generated motivation letter tailored to that specific posting gives you a coherent final paragraph where your researched figure slots in as one clean sentence — instead of an awkward afterthought bolted onto a generic template.

Sources

• Salarium – Statistical wage calculator, Federal Statistical Office (FSO)
• Salarium calculator application
• Angestellte Schweiz: Everything about the 13th salary