(14.12.2022) Almost a quarter of the country's workforce works for a multinational company. In 2021, more than 35,000 companies with a total of nearly 1.5 million jobs and sales of close to CHF 2,000 billion belonged to a multinational group, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
Of these companies, 52.1% (18,378) were Swiss-controlled while 47.9% (16,895) were foreign-controlled, primarily by Germany (23.5%), the United States (19.6%) and France (14.4%). Between 2014 and 2020, the number of jobs at Chinese-controlled companies increased fivefold, from 1,848 to 9,628.
Thanks to their strong presence in the tertiary sector, especially in wholesale trade and administrative and support services, foreign-controlled companies generate twice as much turnover as Swiss-controlled companies. Swiss companies, on the other hand, have a strong presence in primary and secondary sectors such as agriculture, industry, energy and construction.
Swiss-controlled companies accounted for 958,439 (64.3%) of jobs, compared with 531,958 (35.7%) for foreign-controlled companies. Employment in multinationals has also been resilient to the pandemic, with only a slight decline of 0.4% in 2020 in foreign-controlled companies. In Swiss-controlled companies, the number of jobs actually increased by 0.3%.
In addition, annual job growth between 2014 and 2020 was on average higher among such companies (+1.4%) compared to other companies operating in the Swiss economy (+0.8%).
With more than CHF 1,545 billion in sales, the manufacturing and trade sector alone generates nearly 80% of the revenues of all multinational groups operating in Switzerland.
Last modification 14.12.2022
