Part-time jobs are on their way to becoming the norm at the Swiss Federal Railways, with the company saying it will advertise the majority of new positions in its largest division with the option to work 80-100% of the full time hours.
Jobs in the company’s passenger traffic division – which includes train drivers – will be posted according to the new policy.
In early February the Swiss cabinet announced that the domestic workforce should be boosted as part of its process to bring into force the February 9, 2014 vote to limit immigration. Voters indicated they were in favour of prioritising Swiss workers over foreigners in the hiring process.
However, Federal Railways spokesperson Lea Meyer told swissinfo.ch that their new policy is not connected to this issue and that they are simply trying to attract “more applicants” and cast their net wider.
Currently, 17% of the Federal Railways’ 30,000 employees work part-time. Around half of all women at the firm work less than full-time, as do around 10% of men.
Meyer added that opening up more positions to part-time hours was aimed at “both men and women”.
Across the whole Swiss employment market, more than half of all women work part-time, compared to one in seven men.
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You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.