Opening the labor market to foreigners has positively affected the Swiss economy
As noted by the publication Nashagazeta.ch, the number of immigrants in Switzerland peaked in 2013 and has been declining since. Supporters of the initiative to limit immigration before the 2014 referendum predicted that the number of newcomers would rise to 80,000 people. However, the actual figure turned out to be much lower.
The franc's surge in January 2015 slowed economic growth and, as a result, reduced immigration. In 2016, the number of immigrants was 56,300 people – the lowest figure in 10 years. Data from the report for the first 5 months of 2017 suggest that immigration will remain at the 2016 level this year.
Immigrants have positively influenced the Swiss economy and overall prosperity, the report says. While the 1990s were characterized by prolonged stagnation, the period after 2002 until the start of the financial crisis was marked by a strong economic upturn, facilitated by the introduction of the free movement of persons regime. Over the 15 years of the agreement's existence, GDP per capita grew by 12%. Also, without immigrants, the negative balance of the social insurance fund would have been not 600 million, but 3 billion francs.
As the report results showed, real wages increased, and there are no signs that they will decrease. The exception is some border regions of the country. For example, cross-border workers in Ticino make up a quarter of the canton's employed population. That is, a Swiss painter must compete with an Italian painter who will do similar work cheaper, which slows wage growth in the region.
The number of immigrants from Portugal, Spain, and Germany has significantly decreased – by 72%, 41%, and 36%, respectively. Experts attribute this to lower unemployment and economic recovery in those countries. Meanwhile, the number of cross-border workers from Italy and France, on the contrary, increased. In the last quarter of 2016, the number of cross-border workers from France increased by 4.1%, from Italy – by 3.3%.
The number of Eastern European immigrants also decreased by 26%. However, the growth of immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria was 126%. This is due to the fact that from June 1, 2016, citizens of these countries received the right to free movement.
Since 2002, the education level of immigrants has been steadily rising. While previously 27% of immigrants had higher education, now their number has grown to 57%. By the way, employers often look for highly qualified personnel abroad because only 40% of Swiss workers can boast a university degree.
In other words, the decision to open the labor market to foreigners was also driven by the need to fill the shortage of domestic specialists. Not only individual companies but also the entire country's economy benefited from the influx of qualified specialists.