Swiss are ‘hardest workers in Europe’; concern grows over number of EU workers needed if anti-immigration vote wins; and more news in our roundup on Tuesday.
40,000 EU citizens allowed to work in Switzerland under new law wouldn’t be enough, expert says
While the details of the SVP’s ‘No to 10 million’ initiative have lacked details, the party now says on its website that if the proposal is approved in the June 14th referendum, 40,000 immigrants from the EU will still be able to come to Switzerland – about 20,000 fewer people than in the past few years.
But while this sounds like a lot, experts like economist Hendrik Budliger say this number “would not allow for a stable workforce. Each year, the number of people retiring already exceeds the number entering the labour market. Without immigration, the labour market would have been shrinking for years. And with the wave of baby boomer retirements, the situation will become even more strained.”
Foreigners to pay double for use of a Swiss pool
In the summer of 2025, authorities in Porrentruy, in the canton of Jura, banned people from nearby France from using the municipal pool, blaming them for “outbreaks of anti-social behaviour.”
Specifically, locals accused French youths for “harassment of young women, inappropriate language, swimming in underwear, and even violent behaviour after being reprimanded.”
Fast-forward to summer 2026, and the municipality has decided that people who do not work or reside in Switzerland, or else a tourists from France, will pay double to enter the swimming pool.
The fee will be 15 francs instead of 7.50 francs for adults , and 10 francs instead of 5 francs for young people.
Swiss are the hardest workers in Europe
Swiss employees worked more than 8 billion hours in 2025, according to new data from the Federal Statistical Office.
The average weekly working time for full-time employees reached 40 hours and 3 minutes last year.
Excluding those absent for the entire week, Switzerland even shows an average of 42 hours and 24 minutes – the highest among EU countries.
READ MORE: Do the Swiss really work the most hours in the whole of Europe?
Bern wants nationwide monitoring of…sperm quality
A multi-party motion submitted in the cantonal Bern government notes that several studies report a drastic decline in sperm quality in Europe and North America.
They also believe there are significant regional differences in sperm within Switzerland.
In its recently published response, the Executive Council considers a report on this “complex issue” to be useful.
It pointed out, however, that reliable results would require a large volume of data, demanding considerable time and resources. Therefore, a comprehensive survey would only be meaningful on a national scale.
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