Part-time work pays less percentage-wise

Context

TL;DR

• In Ticino, 65% of salaried workers work full-time.
• Part-time work concerns 35% of salaried workers.
• For the same working hours, the average gap is 6,1%.
• In Switzerland, part-time work concerns 38,5% of salaried workers.

Key facts

• Source→new October report by Ustat
• Data→2024
• Full-time in Ticino→65% and 5'456 francs per month
• Part-time in Ticino→35% and 5'121 francs in full-time equivalent
• Ticino gap→335 francs less
• Comparison for the same working hours→6,1% less for part-time work
• Switzerland→38,5% part-time and 7,7% gap
• Motion→Evaristo Roncelli calls for an analysis by the State Council

The 6,1% is the average difference that emerges, for the same working hours, between the salary of those who work part-time and that of those who work full-time. The figure is contained in the new October report by the Statistical Office (Ustat), but the analysis invites us not to stop at the percentage: when comparing only workers with similar characteristics, the differences tend to disappear.

The 2024 picture

In 2024, in the Canton of Ticino, 65% of salaried people worked full-time and earned an average of 5'456 francs per month. The remaining 35% worked part-time; their full-time-equivalent remuneration was 5'121 francs, or 335 francs less. Ustat describes a stable situation: in 2014, the difference between the two groups was very similar.

Women, age and profile

The report indicates that it is predominantly women who work part-time, often in sectors offering lower remuneration. Age also matters: part-time work is more common among the youngest and oldest age groups. The picture changes when the comparison is made between workers with similar characteristics. In that case, the differences between full-time and part-time work tend to disappear: what affects remuneration is the employee's profile, not the percentage worked.

The comparison and the motion

In the Swiss comparison, part-time work is more common, at 38,5%, and the wage gap reaches 7,7%. The trend, however, is different: since 2014, the increase in part-time wages has been more pronounced than that of full-time wages. Ustat hypothesizes that over the past decade, people with high remuneration chose part-time work, raising the average. Yesterday, in the Grand Council, the motion by Evaristo Roncelli, of Avanti con Ticino&Lavoro, was approved, calling on the State Council to analyze disposable income as work percentages vary. The motion's proponents fear that higher income and the loss of certain subsidies may leave the same amount at the end of the month.

Operational details

The percentage is not enough

The aggregate figure is useful for describing the market, but it is not enough to judge the attractiveness of an individual job. A lower average for part-time work brings together people who, according to Ustat, differ in age, gender and sectoral placement. If the comparison is narrowed to workers with similar characteristics, the gap tends to shrink until it disappears. The correct question, therefore, is not only what percentage one works, but which profile is being compared.

For those who work across the border

For a cross-border worker working in the Canton of Ticino, this caution avoids an excessive reading of the figure. The available text contains no distinctions between residents and non-residents, nor a calculation referring to the G permit. The source focuses on salary and offers no information on AVS, LPP or LAMal. Nor does it address withholding tax and double taxation. These aspects, therefore, cannot be inferred from the comparison between full-time and part-time work.

The passage on disposable income raises a different issue. The motion approved by the Grand Council stems from the concern that a person already employed part-time may not be incentivized to increase their working percentage: the increase in income could be accompanied by the loss of entitlement to certain subsidies, leaving the amount available at the end of the month unchanged. It is not a new salary measure described by the source, but a request for an analysis that considers working percentages, income and subsidies together.

To turn the comparison into a personal assessment, readers can place the simulatore busta paga alongside Ustat's data. If the question concerns the money left at the end of the month, costo della vita Ticino vs Italia offers a second perspective, without attributing to these statistics a precision that the source does not provide.

Useful planning tools

To estimate your pension strategy, use the pension planner and the pillar 3 simulator.

Key points

An operational reading

The source does not establish what percentage is appropriate for each worker and does not offer an individual procedure. To use the data without attributing answers to it that it does not contain, the reader can follow four steps.

1. Start with the reference year. Use 2024 to read the snapshot of the Ticino labor market and 2014 to verify the time comparison indicated by Ustat.

2. Keep the two salary dimensions distinct. On the one hand, there is full-time work; on the other, for part-time work, full-time-equivalent remuneration. The difference of 335 francs should be read within this statistical framework.

3. Check the profile being compared. Women, age groups and sectors do not have the same weight in the composition of the groups. The report invites readers to compare workers with similar characteristics before attributing the difference solely to the percentage worked.

4. Separate salary from disposable income. The scenario concerning subsidies is why the motion calls for a specific analysis as the percentage of work varies. It should not be confused with the salary comparison prepared by Ustat.

For a cross-border worker who works in Ticino, this sequence makes it possible to use the statistics as a reference without turning them into an answer about individual conditions that the source does not examine. The institutional step to follow is the analysis requested from the State Council; the available text does not anticipate any results.

For a personal estimate of remuneration, use the calcolatore stipendio.

Source: laregione.ch