CISL research: declining purchasing power for cross-border workers

Context

TL;DR

• 1.542 responses collected in May 2026
• 31,7% spend more than an hour and a half commuting
• 87,8% consider the “health tax” detrimental
• 76,9% are not considering moving to Switzerland

Key facts

• Research → «Working across the border: conditions, needs and prospects of cross-border workers»
• Promoters → CISL dei Laghi, CISL Sondrio, CISL Piemonte Orientale and OCST
• Responses → 1.542 online questionnaires in May 2026
• Presentation → Saturday, October 24 at 9.30
• Venue → Ville Ponti Congress Center in Varese
• Como → almost 32 thousand cross-border workers
• Varese → 31 thousand cross-border workers
• Share from Como → 41% of Italian workers employed in Ticino

The questionnaire and the presentation

In May 2026, 1.542 workers responded to the online questionnaire promoted by CISL dei Laghi, CISL Sondrio, CISL Piemonte Orientale and the Ticino trade union OCST. The research, entitled «Working across the border: conditions, needs and prospects of cross-border workers», will be presented on Saturday, October 24 at 9.30 at the Ville Ponti Congress Center in Varese.

The stated aim is to collect information directly from cross-border workers about changes in their work, without limiting itself to official statistics, and to turn what is heard into concrete proposals. Scientific coordination is entrusted to BiblioLavoro, the study center of CISL Lombardia.

The research concerns tens of thousands of people: every morning they cross the border to get to work in Switzerland, and every evening they make the reverse journey to return home. Almost 32 thousand cross-border workers depart from the province of Como, accounting for 41% of Italian workers employed in Ticino; another 31 thousand depart from the province of Varese.

Daily commuting is one of the first elements measured by the survey:

«Almost one worker in three (31,7%) spends more than an hour and a half each day commuting between home and work; for 73,2% of respondents, the main means of transport is a private car.»

As for flexibility, only 37,4% of respondents work for companies that allow cross-border workers to use teleworking. The questionnaire thus places side by side the time spent commuting, the use of private cars and the still limited availability of remote work, offering an initial snapshot of the conditions reported by those who work across the border in the Canton of Ticino.

Operational details

Salary, purchasing power and employee benefits

Three levels of the same snapshot

The pay data do not yield a single assessment. 73% of respondents say they are satisfied with their salary, while 48,4% perceive a decline in their purchasing power in recent years. The two percentages refer to different dimensions: the first measures satisfaction with pay, while the second measures the perception of how it has evolved over time. Taken together, they show a gap between satisfaction with salary and the perceived trend in purchasing power, without the survey attributing this gap to a specific cause.

The change from 55,6% to 63,4% is presented by the source as a difference between all respondents and those without collective-agreement coverage. The survey provides no other information to explain that gap, but indicates a perception of earning less than a Swiss resident performing the same duties. The 42,7% point to a second concern: they report at least one incident in which they considered the treatment they received discriminatory because they were a cross-border worker.

Employee benefits also receive a clear-cut assessment. For the majority, there are no transport allowances, meal vouchers or production bonuses, while 58,9% say they are not satisfied with them. The so-called “health tax” is considered detrimental by 87,8% of respondents.

Finally, a need for information emerges regarding the second pillar: 69,2% say they have little or no knowledge of how their pension fund works. In the survey, the pension issue is therefore associated primarily with limited knowledge of the system, not with a numerical assessment of future benefits.

Key points

Telework, balance and life choice

The comparison between remote and on-site work

Telework also emerges from the survey as an element for comparing different organizational conditions. Among those who use it, 95,2% endorse it almost unanimously. The assessment therefore concerns workers who already have access to remote work and experience it directly.

The same study then compares work-life balance. Among those who work remotely, 69,5% say they are satisfied; the share drops to 51,8% among those who work exclusively on-site. These percentages refer to two distinct groups in the questionnaire and describe a difference in views on everyday balance, without turning it into a prediction or a causal explanation.

The final indication concerns residential mobility. 76,9% would not consider moving to Switzerland. According to the study, cross-border commuting thus constitutes a stable life choice, rather than a step toward emigration. The figure completes the picture of work across the border: the questionnaire considers employment conditions, commuting, telework and personal prospects together.

After the analysis, the volume devotes its second part to trade union proposals. In the available content, however, the individual proposals are not listed. It is therefore not possible to attribute specific measures to the study beyond the stated aim of turning listening into concrete proposals.

The text provided also does not report data or rules on permit G, AVS, LPP, LAMal, refunds, withholding tax, Brogeda, INPS or double taxation. These topics cannot be derived from the survey percentages and remain outside the analysis described by the source.

Source: varesenoi.it