Functional and Spatial Segregation in the Swiss Financial Sector: Pink-Collar Ghetto and Male Bastion

Abstract

Our purpose in this paper is to show the circumstances and consequences of the extensive growth in employment in the Swiss financial sector that occurred in the 1980s, which are to a large extent responsible for the current patterns of restructuring and dismissal in Swiss banks. Four study areas were chosen: Switzerland as a whole; the city of Zurich; its surrounding suburban regions; and one particular suburban region. All these areas are highly identified with the financial sector. First we evaluate the changes in numbers of employees between 1980 and 1990 and the gender breakdown within different occupational categories in the three study areas. The data for the analysis were gained from the Swiss censuses of 1980 and 1990. Second, we look at the circumstances that caused the suburbanisation of bank back-office functions and the impact on office employment, putting special emphasis on women occupied in clerical–secretarial work. The focus is on one suburban zone around Zurich which experienced the most noticeable growth in office employment of all suburban regions over the last two decades. The findings of this study suggest that the Swiss banks are a male bastion. Women are mainly found in the lower qualified occupations, such as clerical–secretarial work. Moreover, the suburban belt is characterised by a high percentage of women in pink-collar jobs whereas the city is dominated by male employees.