Continuing professional training leads to higher income, Swiss study shows

The difference in income changes depends on the field of study, life course and age. Keystone-SDA

According to a study by the Swiss statistical office, ten years after graduating, people who continue training earn between CHF400 ($497) and CHF1,300 more per month than those who have not taken any further training.

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The study looked at the incomes of 150,000 people who, in 2012, had obtained a qualification at secondary level II (e.g., a professional apprenticeship diploma, a school of general education or a business school) or tertiary level (university, college, or a federal diploma). People who have continued their education in the ten years since then earn more, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) said in a press release on Tuesday.

Holders of a professional apprenticeship diploma who continue their education earn around CHF1,000 more per month; higher vocational training graduates earn between CHF1,100-1,200 more; and holders of a bachelor’s degree between CHF600-800 more. Those with a master’s degree from a university or a teacher’s college earn between CHF400-CHF 1,000 more.

The difference depends on the field of study, life course and age. Earnings are highest for people with a tertiary-level qualification in management and administration (CHF11,700 for a master’s degree in this field), accounting, marketing and secretariat (CHF12,700 for a federal diploma) and electrical and mechanical engineering (CHF12,400 for a doctorate).

For holders of a professional apprenticeship diploma, it is those in technical fields who have the highest incomes (for example, CHF7,900 francs for a diploma in the field of information and communication technologies).

Inequalities between men and women

The survey also shows that, irrespective of their level of employment, women earn 20% less than men ten years after graduation. These differences are 16% for holders of a professional apprenticeship diploma, 19% for those with a university qualification and 33% for those with a higher vocational training qualification.

These differences can be explained in part by the lower employment rate among women. On a full-time basis, they range from 6% for people with a university qualification to 12% for those with a higher vocational training qualification.

Changing jobs

According to another study by the Federal Statistical Office, carried out in 2023 and also published on Tuesday, two-thirds of university graduates change jobs, either within the same company or from one employer to another, within five years of completing their studies. Those with a master’s or doctorate from a university are the most mobile (72%), closely followed by those with a bachelor’s degree from a university of applied sciences (68%).

Conversely, teacher’s college graduates show the greatest stability (44% change jobs). The main reasons given were the search for new professional challenges (45%) and dissatisfaction with the previous job (32%), particularly in relation to the working environment or the content of the tasks.

Nearly a quarter of those surveyed had seen their hierarchical position progress between one and five years after completing their studies. This progression generally led to an improvement in income (+13% to +18%) and a greater level of satisfaction in the new position (up to +47%).

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Translated from French with DeepL/gw

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