Lun, 8 Avr 2024
SAV President Severin Moser suggests a phased increase to the retirement age, aiming for a more sustainable solution to Switzerland’s skilled worker shortage and immigration concerns.
Despite the pension initiative being rejected in March, the Swiss Employers’ Association (SAV) has proposed raising the retirement age to 66. The increase would have to take place in small steps, as SAV President Severin Moser said in an interview.
In an interview with CH Media published on Monday, Moser said that the retirement age would initially be increased by six months and then by another six months. He believes that the Swiss population would agree to a slower increase in the retirement age. A direct jump to 66 is unrealistic, he said.
It was only at the beginning of March that the Swiss electorate rejected a popular initiative by the Young Liberals by an overwhelming margin.
Like parliament and the Federal Council, all cantons voted against a higher retirement age. The proposal initially wanted to raise the retirement age to 66 and then link it to life expectancy. The automatic nature of the increase was a deterrent, said Moser.
The higher retirement age is a means of combating the shortage of skilled workers and immigration. This will secure the AHV in the long term. Moser assumes that immigration will increase less strongly in the future than in the past. This is because neighbouring countries are also suffering from a shortage of skilled workers.
“Because we will have a shortage of skilled workers due to demographic change, economic growth will decline, with all the negative consequences that entails,” he said with conviction. Companies are therefore dependent on employees of today’s retirement age.
©Keystone/SDA
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