Finding a job after 50 in Switzerland: the figures, your rights and the strategy to get hired again

After the probation period, the statutory notice period is one month during the first year of service, two months from the second to the ninth year, and three months from the tenth year (art. 335c CO). A written agreement, a standard contract or a collective agreement can provide for a longer one. Our guide to the notice period in Switzerland details the cases.

Age is a reason “inherent in the personality”: notice given on this ground is unfair, unless the reason is connected with the employment relationship or seriously impairs work in the company (art. 336 para. 1 let. a CO). The employer remains free to dismiss for a genuine reason and need not prove it spontaneously; it is the employee who must establish that the dismissal was unfair.

In ATF 132 III 115 (20 December 2005), a heating engineer with 44 years of service, dismissed less than a year before the retirement he had announced, without any prior discussion or attempt at a more acceptable solution, obtained the maximum compensation of six months’ salary: the Federal Supreme Court sees an increased duty of care on the employer (art. 328 CO). In ruling 4A_617/2023 (8 October 2024), a 62-year-old baker with 19 years of service, dismissed without reasons, had the dismissal declared unfair because the employer “should have discussed alternative solutions with him”. This consideration is assessed case by case; it does not prevent dismissal for insufficient performance.

Unfair dismissal entitles you to compensation set by the court, at most six months’ salary (art. 336a CO); it does not give the job back. To claim it, you must object to the dismissal in writing before the end of the notice period, then bring the claim to court within 180 days after the end of the contract (art. 336b CO).

Retirement credits amount to 7% of the coordinated salary from 25 to 34, 10% from 35 to 44, 15% from 45 to 54 and 18% from 55 to 65 (art. 16 LPP); the employer’s contribution must at least equal the total of the employees’ contributions (art. 66 para. 1 LPP). On a salary of CHF 80,000, the coordinated salary is CHF 53,540: the credit rises from CHF 5,354 at 44 to CHF 9,637 at 55, an extra CHF 4,283 per year, at least half of it borne by the employer. That is the extra cost some recruiters have in mind; better to know it.

The AVS pension can be drawn early from age 63, in full or in part, with a permanent reduction (art. 40 LAVS). The LPP retirement benefit can also be drawn from 63, or earlier if the fund’s rules allow it (art. 13 LPP). The reference age is 65 for everyone since the AVS 21 reform (art. 21 LAVS).

With twelve months of contributions, the entitlement is 260 daily benefits; with 18 months, 400; with at least 22 months and age 55 or over, 520, which is two years (art. 27 para. 2 LACI). The benefit is 80% of the insured earnings, 70% without dependent children above CHF 140 per day. Our guide to unemployment after resigning explains the framework period and suspensions.

An insured person whose benefit framework period opens within the four years preceding the reference age is entitled to 120 additional daily benefits, and the framework period is extended until the end of the month preceding payment of the AVS pension (art. 27 para. 3 LACI; art. 41b OACI). From 61, the entitlement can therefore reach 640 days.

If an employer hires you at a reduced salary for an induction period, unemployment insurance can make up the difference, up to 60% of the normal salary (art. 65 and 66 LACI). For insured persons aged 50 or over, these allowances are paid for twelve months, instead of six as a rule, and only decrease from the second half. It is an argument to put on the table yourself, with the regional employment office (RAV/ORP) and the recruiter.

A person whose unemployment entitlement runs out no earlier than the month they turn 60 can receive transitional benefits until the reference age (art. 3 LPtra), provided they were insured under the AVS for at least 20 years, including five after 50, with an income of at least 75% of the maximum AVS pension (CHF 22,680 in 2025), and their assets are below CHF 50,000 for a single person, CHF 100,000 for a couple (art. 5 LPtra; FSIO). The amount covers recognised living costs and is capped, according to the FSIO, at CHF 46,508 per year for a single person. At the end of 2025, 840 people were receiving them, CHF 2,706 per month on average (FSIO, statistics of 26 May 2026): take-up remains low.

Benefits only run from registration, and labour market measures (courses, placements, induction allowances) go through your employment office adviser. After 50, every month counts: the notice period is the time to report your situation, not the end of the contract.

viamia offers people aged 40 and over a free analysis of their professional situation, run by the cantonal career guidance offices: a questionnaire on career resources, interviews, concrete goals. Launched by the Confederation, the service has been funded and run by the cantons since 2026; it is not open to people entitled to similar services from unemployment or disability insurance.

Detail recent positions with quantified results, summarise older ones in one line, and highlight recent tools and training. Do not doctor the dates: a gap or an inconsistency shows more than an age. Our guide to creating the perfect CV gives the structure.

On Licorn, candidates aged 55 and over expect a median salary of CHF 78,000, against CHF 84,000 at 35 to 54. Starting from the salary paid in your sector and region rather than from your last salary avoids being screened out before the interview; our job market barometer gives the benchmarks by age and sector.

Quantify them yourself: at 55, the LPP retirement credit costs the employer about CHF 2,100 more per year on a salary of CHF 80,000, and induction allowances can offset up to 60% of the salary for twelve months. On the horizon, answer with duration: hired at 52, you have thirteen years ahead, more than most 30-year-old recruits who move on; the FSO measures 18.7% of job changes per year among 25 to 39-year-olds, against 5.9% among 55 to 64-year-olds.

The date of birth is customary on a Swiss CV; the question is therefore not whether to mention it, but what is made of it. Our guide to illegal interview questions recalls what a recruiter may ask, and the rules to shine in an interview apply at any age.

A part-time job or a fixed-term contract opens doors that a full-time permanent position closes; they can be negotiated afterwards. Our guide to part-time work explains what it changes for the LPP and unemployment, and our guide to career change deals with switching sectors.

Target salary, working hours, location, remote work, type of contract: you set them in your profile, and that is what made our job market barometer possible. A recruiter who writes to you has seen them; you do not go through three interviews to find out the salary does not follow.

You do not apply: recruiters send proposals to the profiles that match the position, experience included. Almost a quarter of Licorn candidates are over 45, and their experience is what recruiters read first.

Each proposal is read at your own pace, whether you are employed or looking. It respects your conditions, and you choose which ones you answer.