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Survey finds foreigners feel at ease in Swiss workplaces  

Office workers
Instances of discrimination on the grounds of nationality, ethnicity or faith related primarily to the job application process and salaries. Keystone

Most foreign employees in Switzerland feel well-integrated in their workplace, according to a survey published on Wednesday.

The Swiss HR BarometerExternal link, issued by the federal technology institute ETH Zurich and the universities of Lucerne and Zurich, polled 13,000 foreign employees.

The study investigated factors including perceived integration and discrimination based on nationality, ethnic origin and religious affiliation.

More than half of participants (52%) felt fully integrated in their work environment, while almost a third (31%) said they felt “quite integrated”.

Seventeen per cent of respondents said they felt only partially, not quite, or not at all integrated.

One of the main reasons for the weak sense of integration was language-related, the study found.

Scant discrimination

The findings on perceived discrimination painted a similarly positive picture of the Swiss workplace: some 86% of respondents said they had experienced no discrimination, or only slight discrimination.

Instances of discrimination on the grounds of nationality, ethnicity or faith related primarily to the job application process and salaries.

The study also found that foreigners experience more discrimination from customers than from their employers at work.

Around a third of foreign employees found the integration climate at their company was just average.

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