State Secretariat for Migration cuts over 100 jobs again

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• The SEM is cutting 108 jobs, mainly temporary positions and some permanent ones due to cost-cutting measures.
• The reason is fewer asylum applications and a reduced backlog.
• The reduction will take place by the beginning of 2027.

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The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) has announced the reduction of 108 jobs. Some of these were financed on a temporary basis, while other positions will fall victim to cost-cutting measures.

The majority of the jobs being cut are temporary positions - these were awarded to the SEM on a temporary basis "in order to reduce the backlog in the asylum sector", the SEM announced on Sunday in response to an inquiry from the Keystone-SDA news agency. As the reduction will be completed in a few months, the SEM will now have to "return" these posts.

As a result of the relief package put together by the Federal Council and Parliament, individual permanent positions will also be cut, as the SEM confirmed a report in "Sonntags-Blick".

The jobs that would have to be cut as a result of this and due to higher average personnel costs will be spread across the entire State Secretariat.

The job cuts are to be implemented at the beginning of 2027. The employees affected are to be informed in June.

After the reduction, the SEM will still have around 1280 full-time positions in 2027. The SEM had already cut 83 jobs at the beginning of 2026.

"Based on the number of asylum applications received"

At the end of March, the State Secretariat for Migration wrote: "Personnel resources in the asylum sector are generally based on the number of asylum applications received". There were fewer of these in 2025. The SEM is also expecting fewer applications this year than in the years 2022 to 2024.

Pending asylum applications were recently reduced by 45 percent, as the authority announced at the end of March. At that time, around 8,600 asylum applications were still pending.