Swiss defence department faces resistance over up to 700 new jobs

Switzerland’s defence department estimates that rearmament could require 660 to 700 additional full-time positions between 2028 and 2035, prompting disagreement over whether the jobs can be offset by cuts elsewhere, SRF reports.

The army and Armasuisse, the federal procurement agency, say specialists will be needed to operate and maintain new equipment, including drones, air-defence systems and cyber-defence capabilities. The army plans billions of francs in investment over the coming years.

Defence Minister Martin Pfister wants to fund as many of the new positions as possible through savings within the department. His proposals include streamlining the army’s leadership structures and centralising communications, personnel and finance departments.

But the army and Armasuisse have questioned whether all the additional staff can be offset by internal cuts. They point to a planned doubling of the budgets for procurement and property, which they say will also increase the workload involved in managing equipment.

The defence department said discussions were ongoing and the number of jobs that could be cut internally had not yet been determined. The meeting minutes say Pfister expects departments to keep looking for ways to work more efficiently.

Any positions that cannot be offset internally would have to be paid for from funds approved for purchases such as air-defence systems, drones and cyber-defence equipment, leaving less money for those acquisitions.

The defence department has 12,402 full-time positions, including 9,502 in the army and 946 at Armasuisse. These figures exclude militia members; 174,017 people are currently assigned to military service in Switzerland.