The case

“By working longer hours, we could reduce immigration,” claimed Monika Rühl, director of economiesuisse, after the voters rejected the initiative “10 million Switzerland” last Sunday.

Source: Economiesuisse & NZZ Interview 

The commentary

Monika Rühl’s claim is only partially plausible, but is too simplistic to stand up as a direct causal argument. In Switzerland, immigration has primarily been driven by demand in labour force, particularly in healthcare, construction, IT as well as research. Net immigration has recently ranged between roughly 60,000 and 100,000 people per year, while foreign residents account for about 27 – 28 % of the population. The key drivers are structural skill shortages, demographic change and sustained demand for qualified labour, rather than aggregate working time.

While expanding domestic labour supply, i.e. via longer working hours, higher labour force participation, or a higher retirement age, could reduce reliance on foreign workers in some areas, the effect is limited. Many employees already work close to full time, and additional hours cannot be scaled indefinitely. Labour markets also adjust in non-linear ways, including potential impacts on productivity and labour force participation.

What is crucial is the fact that immigration is often used to fill specific skill gaps that cannot be quickly met domestically. To sum up, the decisive factors are not total hours worked, but productivity levels, education as well as demographic trends.