The Swiss job market is a popular location for workers from outside the country. At the end of 2024, the Swiss Federal Statistical Office reported about 400,000 cross-border commuters in Switzerland – that is, people who live outside the country and commute to work in Switzerland. By contrast, there are about 1.9 million foreign employees who live and work in Switzerland. A study recently published in the American Journal of Political Science (AJPS) shows: locals regard foreign employees who live where they work as members of society and thus view them significantly more positively than cross-border commuters – even though both groups compete equally with the local population for jobs.
In a representative survey of the Swiss electorate, the authors specifically compared cross-border commuters with foreign residents to see whether negative perceptions of them were based more on fear of job loss or fairness considerations. "Our results show that attitudes towards labour migration were less influenced by economic competition and more by the question of who is perceived as being part of society", explains Gabriele Spilker, professor of international politics and global inequality and co-speaker of the Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality" at the University of Konstanz. The deciding factor is whether people are considered to be taking part in social life.
An additional experiment confirms these findings. The place of residence – be it Switzerland or a neighbouring country – is the strongest factor determining the acceptance of foreign employees. The effect is the same – regardless of a person's professional qualification, age or country of origin. Misinformation plays a key role here, as Lena Maria Schaffer, professor of political science at the University of Lucerne, adds: "Many Swiss people feel it is unfair for cross-border commuters to earn high wages in Switzerland while living in countries with a lower cost of living. However, the same people's perceptions change after learning that these foreign employees have to pay income taxes and are not entitled to Swiss unemployment benefits."
The findings thus call central assumptions of migration policy debate into question – not just in Switzerland, but in other countries, too. It is not competition for jobs on its own, but rather normative ideas of fairness and social participation that affect attitudes towards labour migrants. Transparent information and communication about rights, responsibilities and the actual contributions of cross-border commuters could assist in reducing tensions in border regions and increase acceptance for this type of labour mobility.
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American Journal of Political Science