More than 8 billion working hours in 2024

According to the volume of work statistics (AVOL), the number of hours worked by all gainfully employed persons in Switzerland in 2024 was 8.117 billion, which corresponds to an increase of 0.1% compared to the previous year. This slight increase is due to the increase in jobs (+0.8%), which was almost completely offset by a decrease in the actual annual working hours per job (-0.7%). This decrease, in turn, is due to a decrease in the actual weekly working hours per job, as the average number of normal working weeks per job remained unchanged.

Decrease in actual working hours for employees over five years

From 2019 to 2024, the actual weekly working time of full-time employees (excluding employees in their own company) decreased by 50 minutes to 40 hours and 4 minutes. This can be explained by a decrease in contractually agreed weekly working hours (-6 minutes to 41 hours and 47 minutes) and weekly overtime (-13 minutes to 37 minutes) as well as an increase in the weekly duration of absences (+31 minutes to 2 hours and 20 minutes). In the same period, the number of vacation weeks rose by 0.3 days to 5.2 weeks per year. In 2024, employees aged 20 to 49 had an average of 5.0 weeks of vacation compared to 5.5 weeks for 15 to 19-year-olds and 5.6 weeks for 50 to 64-year-olds.

Over 44 hours per week in the primary sector

The highest actual working hours per week were recorded among full-time employees in the primary sector (44 hours and 35 minutes). This was followed by "Financial intermediation" (41 hours and 2 minutes), "Professional, scientific and technical services" (40 hours and 43 minutes) and "Information and communication" (40 hours and 38 minutes). The shortest actual working hours were recorded in "Real estate and other business services" at 39 hours and 18 minutes.

Increase in absences due to health reasons

At 66.8%, health-related absences (illness or accident) accounted for the largest share of employees' annual absences in 2024. Between 2023 and 2024, the average annual number of health-related absences among full-time employees rose from 7.6 to 8.5 days per job. The lowest number of absences in 2024 was recorded in the sectors "Information and communication" (5.4 days per year), "Professional, scientific and technical services" (6.0 days) and "Financial intermediation and insurance" (6.7 days). The longest absences were recorded in the sectors "Real estate and other business services" (11.5 days) and "Transportation and storage" (10.9 days).

In the main occupational groups, the duration of health-related absences is strongly related to the qualification level of the profession practiced. In 2024, the fewest days of absence were recorded in the occupations with the highest level of qualification (5.7 days for managers and intellectual and scientific occupations). In contrast, the occupations with the lowest level of qualification recorded the most absences (13.5 days for unskilled workers).

International comparisons with different results

For international comparisons, the method of calculating working hours must be adapted (see methodological appendix). The most important change is that people who are absent for an entire week are excluded, resulting in significantly higher working hours. According to this calculation, the actual weekly working time of full-time employees in Switzerland in 2024 was 42 hours and 29 minutes. Switzerland thus recorded the highest value of the EU/EFTA countries. Belgium (36 hours and 14 minutes) and the Netherlands (36 hours and 32 minutes) had the lowest figures. The EU average was 38 hours and 2 minutes.

Taking all employees into account, the actual weekly working time in Switzerland of 35 hours and 17 minutes was close to the EU average of 35 hours and 32 minutes. The reason for this is the high proportion of part-time workers. Greece recorded the longest working hours (39 hours and 50 minutes), the Netherlands the shortest (30 hours and 30 minutes).

If the total number of hours worked per week is compared to the total population (15 years and older), Switzerland is once again one of the countries with the longest actual weekly working hours at 22 hours and 47 minutes. This can be explained by the high labor market participation of the population. The longest working hours were recorded in Iceland (25 hours and 55 minutes) and the shortest in Italy (16 hours and 46 minutes). In the EU, the average was 19 hours and 25 minutes.

Source: bfs.admin.ch