Faced with serious labour shortages and dwindling pension funds, Switzerland wants to encourage people to stay in their jobs longer.
During its autumn 2026 session, the Parliament pushed for better pension provision for people working beyond retirement age
For instance, deputies have called on the Federal Council to improve retirement conditions for employed persons over the age of 65.
This includes social insurance coverage to continue beyond 65 – unless the employee expressly waives it.
Furthermore, they should be able to claim their vested benefits when switching pension funds, even after reaching the retirement age.
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Right now, men in Switzerland retire at 65, and since 1997, women stop working at 64.
Prior to that year, they retired even earlier, at 62 — no wonder the state pension AHV / AVS scheme has been running a deficit since 2014.
However, starting in 2025 and until 2028, Switzerland will gradually implement the same retirement age for women as for men — 65 — a move that is expected to boost funding of the old-age pension scheme.
However, to fill both labour shortages and state coffers, legislators want to make working beyond the statuary retirement age more appealing – hence the proposals for better provisions.
How are they doing that?
A motion that had jin the Council of States in 2026 instructs the Federal Council to increase allowances for deferring retirement.
Currently, the law allows employees who work up to age 70 to significantly raise their 1st and 2nd pillar pension benefits.
There is no legal limit to how much money you can earn after retirement, and MPs want to make this financial aspect more attractive.
At the same time, deputies want the current reduction rate of 6.8 percent per year for early retirement pensions to be increased, in order to keep people working longer rather than dropping out of the labour market before the legal age.
These measures would be combined with a motion already approved by both chambers of the Parliament, which aims to raise the AVS/AHV tax exemption limit after the standard retirement age from the current 16,800 to 21,800 francs.
Other measures under way as well
While the National Council’s Social Security and Health Committee supports the swift implementation of the proposal, it pointed out that the planned state pension reform – intended to maintain the benefit levels and to safeguard the financial stability – also includes measures to keep people in the workforce longer.
These measures stipulate that the retirement age will not be raised, but more incentives for working longer – like the ones mentioned above – will be created.
