For more than 40 years, Roland Favre worked for the same company in Switzerland, starting as a mail-order clerk and eventually becoming head of logistics. He stayed when others left, retrained to adapt to changes, and became, as he put it, “a veteran and a fixture in the company’s structure.”
Then, one morning, everything changed. The company announced 200 layoffs across Europe. Favre was among them.
“It came totally unexpectedly, a huge shock,” he recalled. This wasn’t early retirement or a package with pay, it was a straight dismissal. Soon after, he learned parts of his job had been moved to Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
“I probably became too expensive”
Favre believes cost was a factor. “I probably became too expensive,” he said of himself, adding that he regrets once telling his bosses he was considering early retirement. “I think that was also decisive.”
When he told the company he would consult a lawyer, they offered six months’ salary as severance. “Without that little bit of pressure, they probably wouldn’t have done that.”
Age discrimination
Finding a new job has been a struggle. After registering as unemployed, Favre sent out more than 150 applications without landing a permanent role. “The rejections just keep pouring in,” he said. One HR manager told him the position only attracted younger candidates and paid 18 Swiss francs (just over $22) per hour, adding: “I can’t hire anyone over 55, that’s an internal guideline.”
Favre is frustrated by how older workers are treated. Companies must contribute 18% toward pensions for employees 55 and older, compared to just 7% for those aged 25 to 35. “Loyalty ultimately becomes quite expensive.”
While he understands younger workers don’t want higher contributions taken from their pay, he says the system “is at the expense of older employees.”
Switzerland “out of touch with reality”
Meanwhile, Switzerland is trying to make early retirement harder to ease pension costs and keep people working longer, a move Favre calls “out of touch with reality.”
In his experience, “a 65-year-old employee may still be able to keep their job, but those who are laid off earlier have virtually no chance anymore. The only thing left is early retirement, and they shouldn’t make that more difficult either.”
Still, he keeps applying, though his faith in corporate loyalty is gone. “They threw me out like a garbage bag,” he said. Yet he insists: “I don’t want to retire yet. Maybe luck will smile on me again.”