Swiss Immigration Landscape: 2023 Review and 2024 Outlook

The past two years were marked by travel restrictions and a general downturn in migration into Switzerland, along with a slight recovery in 2022. What did 2023 bring, and what should employers in Switzerland consider when planning their 2024 hiring strategies?

This blog provides a brief 2023 year-in-review of Swiss immigration and looks ahead into the new year for a discussion of what employers can expect in 2024 regarding quotas, the S protection status for Ukrainian nationals and the directive change introduced in February, facilitating the hiring of non-EU nationals in Switzerland.

Quotas

Quota usage was generally slow in 2023, hinting at continued hesitancy, as well as limitations, on internal travel and reduced capacities for new hires in many sectors following the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the reintroduced quotas for Croatian nationals were almost (L quotas) and completely (B quotas) fully used by the end of October, only around two-thirds of non-EU quotas and less than half of EU quotas have been used, and more than 75% of UK quotas remained available for November and December.

Nevertheless, the federal council announced on 29 November that the same quotas will apply for 2024:

• 500 EU B quotas
• 3000 EU L quotas
• 4,500 non-EU B quotas
• 4,000 non-EU L quotas
• 2,100 UK B quotas
• 1,400 UK L quotas
• 1,204 Croatian B quotas
• 1,053 Croatian L quotas

What does this mean for 2024?

Employers generally do not need to consider quotas a limiting factor when it comes to hiring employees in Switzerland or sending service providers across the border. Apart from quotas for Croatian nationals, there will likely be more than enough available in the various other quota categories.

S-Status

Ukrainian nationals fleeing the conflict in Eastern Ukraine continue to have access to the Swiss labour market through the S-Status protection permit granted by the Swiss government.

The federal council decided on 1 November not to lift the status before 4 March 2025, unless the situation in the region changes dramatically, meaning that employers in Switzerland can continue hiring Ukrainian nationals on an S-Status protection permit without going through the usual immigration process applicable to non-EU nationals.

What does this mean for 2024?

Employers can continue tapping the talent pool represented by the roughly 66,000 S-Status holders currently in Switzerland in the coming year. While this represents an opportunity to attract talent through a facilitated process, it comes with attached risk, as the S-Status can be revoked if the holders fail to comply with the attached conditions.  Further, there are certain limitations when it comes to the holders’ place of residence in Switzerland, and the continued availability of this talent is naturally bound to the developments in Ukraine, as discontinuing or revoking the S-Status may result in the loss of the work compliance for the Ukrainian national.

Directive Change

Perhaps the most anticipated change on the directive level in 2023 came in February, which was aimed at easing the shortage of skilled workers in certain sectors of the Swiss economy through three measures:

• Employers seeking to hire third-country nationals in industries with a shortage of skilled workers will no longer need to conduct labour market testing to demonstrate that the priority of domestic workers was respected.
• Third-country nationals in industries with a shortage of skilled workers may now be eligible for a work and residence permit even without academic qualifications (this used to only apply to those with highly specialised professional knowledge and highly qualified professionals).
• Third-country nationals who have been granted a B-permit with no restrictions or conditions may now apply for self-employment through a facilitated process with simplified requirements.

Further examination, particularly regarding the first measure, is needed. Sectors affected by a shortage of skilled workers include engineering, information technology, education, technical and scientific fields, as well as the health sector, meaning that recruitment efforts aimed at non-EU nationals in those sectors may benefit from a facilitated hiring process. Specifically, this means that employers may be eligible to forego the priority for domestic workers and skip the requirement to conduct labour market testing.

What does this mean for 2024?

While a significant step in the direction of easing hiring efforts in Switzerland aimed at non-EU talents both in Europe and abroad, the changes cannot be applied literally, and they have not yet led to a substantial change in approval processes.

After all, it is not a legislative change, but simply an amendment on the directive level, so cantonal authorities have final discretion on how to apply the changes. New hires must be considered on a case-by-case basis to assess whether the facilitated route can be taken, or whether labour market testing will need to be completed.

Fragomen Switzerland’s day-to-day interactions with the cantonal authorities enable the team to keep clients up to date with the latest practice.

Looking ahead

Overall, the Swiss immigration landscape continues its slow transformation of balancing the realities of skilled worker shortages with the political constraints of tight immigration regulations.

These framework conditions will likely remain similar throughout 2024, and companies need to consider them to avoid delays in their hiring strategies.

Case-by-case assessments will be key, especially when it comes to hiring non-EU talent, as the federal system of Switzerland continues to be a mosaic of different cantonal practices and requirements.

Need to know more?

For further information on Swiss immigration requirements, please contact Senior Immigration Consultant Konstantin Schmid at [email protected].

This blog was published on 15 December 2023, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes. To keep up to date with all the latest updates on global immigration, please visit our dedicated COVID-19 site, subscribe to our alerts and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.