SEM: 108 jobs cut from 2027

Context

In brief

• 108 SEM jobs cut from early 2027
• Most are fixed-term contracts for asylum backlog
• 83 posts already eliminated in early 2026
• ~1280 full-time posts remaining in 2027

Key facts

• What: 108 job cuts at the SEM
• When: From early 2027, staff informed in June 2025
• Where: State Secretariat for Migration, Bern (national level)
• Who: SEM, on decision of Parliament and Federal Council
• Amount: 108 posts total, 83 already cut in early 2026, ~1280 posts remaining in 2027
• Cause: Clearance of asylum backlog + federal financial relief package
• Asylum trend: 45% drop in backlogs, around 8,600 pending applications at end of March 2025

The decision and the numbers

The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) has announced 108 job cuts effective from early 2027. Most of these positions involve fixed-term contracts, originally funded to clear the accumulated backlog of asylum cases. The SEM confirmed the news, reported by SonntagsBlick, specifying that in the coming months the work tied to these contracts will be completed.

At the same time, the financial relief package adopted by the federal authorities requires cuts to some permanent positions. These reductions are compounded by the average increase in personnel costs, a factor that further squeezes the federal office's spending capacity. Affected employees will be informed during June 2025.

Already in early 2026, 83 posts had been eliminated, pointing to a structural downsizing trend rather than an isolated cut. At the end of this reorganisation, in 2027 the SEM will have around 1,280 full-time posts, a level significantly lower than during the peak years of the asylum emergency.

The context of falling applications

The SEM emphasised that human resources in the asylum sector depend closely on the number of new applications filed. After the peak recorded in 2022-2024, 2025 has seen a significant drop in requests, and low asylum application numbers are also expected for 2026. This contraction has produced a direct effect on backlogs, down 45%: at the end of March 2025 around 8,600 applications were pending, compared with much higher figures in the two previous years.

The correlation between migration flows and SEM staffing is not a new administrative development, but represents a constant management principle in Swiss migration policy. The federal office has always operated with flexibility tied to emergency funding for crises, which is then scaled back when pressure eases. What emerges in this instance is the overlap between the natural end of emergency contracts and the structural cuts imposed by the Federal Council's and Parliament's savings policy.

For those working in the federal public sector, this dual engine of reduction — natural and political — raises questions about employment stability in offices handling sensitive functions such as asylum and migration. The SEM, like other departments of the federal administration, must reconcile lowering costs with the need to maintain sufficient operational capacity for any future peaks.

Operational details

Analysis of Implications for the Federal Labor Market

The cut of 108 positions at the SEM is part of a broader dynamic of containing federal public spending, with tangible impacts on those working or aspiring to work within the Swiss administration. The overlap between expiring fixed-term contracts and permanent positions being eliminated for budgetary savings creates a situation of employment uncertainty that deserves attention at the national level.

For federal employees, the message is twofold: on one hand, the end of emergency contracts was predictable and linked to the completion of the work; on the other, the elimination of permanent positions for budget reasons introduces an element of volatility in public employment, which traditionally enjoyed greater stability. Affected workers, informed in June 2025, will need to evaluate options for reallocation within the federal administration or seek placement in the private labor market, in a context where the cost of living in Switzerland continues to exert significant pressure.

Comparison with the Previous Cycle: 2022-2024 vs 2025-2027

The three-year period 2022-2024 represented an extraordinary expansion phase for the SEM, with massive hiring to cope with the backlog of asylum cases. The downside is now becoming apparent: the staff reduction is not proportional to the decline in applications but is amplified by budget constraints. The following table summarizes the dynamics:

The crucial difference between the two periods lies in the driver of the cuts: in 2022-2024, the expansion was funded by extraordinary emergency funds; in 2025-2027, the contraction is driven both by the completion of those missions and by a political choice for financial easing that also affects the stable workforce. This paradigm shift has implications for career planning within the federal administration, where the emergency logic seems to become structural even during downsizing.

Effects on the Asylum System and Processing Times

With about 8,600 pending applications at the end of March 2025 and a reduced workforce of 1,280 positions, the SEM will have to demonstrate that productivity per employee can compensate for the numerical reduction. The risk, to be monitored in the coming months, is that a new increase in applications — inherently unpredictable in asylum matters — finds the office with reduced capacity and longer response times. For asylum seekers and the legal representatives assisting them, this potentially means longer waits for decisions that affect fundamental rights and the possibility to integrate into the Swiss labor market.

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Key points

What this means for those working in or aspiring to work in federal public administration

The SEM reorganisation provides operational guidance for those employed in federal administration or considering this career path. The first element to consider is the distinction between fixed-term contracts and permanent positions: the former, especially when tied to emergency funding, have an intrinsic expiry date that must be monitored from the moment of signing. The latter, while more stable, are not immune to the savings packages approved by the Federal Council and Parliament.

For SEM employees informed in June 2025, the concrete options depend on the type of contract:

1. Fixed-term contract expiring: check whether there are possibilities for conversion or reallocation to other federal offices with vacancies; consult the Confederation's internal recruitment portal.

2. Permanent position eliminated for savings: assess the right to re-employment support measures provided for under the federal personnel law; request information from SEM's human resources service on internal mobility procedures.

3. Reintegration into the private labour market: update the professional profile considering the skills acquired in administrative procedure, multilingual case management, migration law; check alignment with the job opportunities available in the Swiss market.

Monitoring deadlines and procedures

For those directly affected, the immediate deadlines are: June 2025 for individual communications, early 2027 for the actual termination of employment relationships. This roughly 18-month timeframe allows for relatively structured planning, unlike more abrupt dismissals. However, competition with other federal employees affected by reorganisation — the financial lightening package hits multiple offices — could narrow internal reallocation opportunities.

For trade unions and professional associations, this period represents an opportunity to verify the actual degree of protection for federal personnel during austerity periods. The federal personnel law provides for consultation mechanisms, but the specific case of budget-driven cuts has more limited margins for negotiation compared to reductions for productive reorganisation.

For those observing the system from the outside — citizens, asylum seekers, sector operators — the indicator to monitor will be the evolution of processing times in 2026-2027. If the staff reduction translates into longer decision times on asylum applications, the savings policy will have a measurable social cost that could fuel future debates on the federal budget. In this scenario, the comparison between personnel costs and the costs of inefficient asylum management — with repercussions on social support systems, housing, integration — will become a topic of political discussion.

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Source: swissinfo.ch