SBB is cutting jobs almost everywhere – but they are growing in Bern

SBB has employees all over Switzerland. Image: sbb

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This is shown by an evaluation of publicly available data from Deutsche Bahn on the geographical distribution of jobs in the group. They show that an increasing number of SBB staff work in the canton of Bern, where the railway is headquartered. At the end of last year it was 25.1 percent – two percentage points more than five years earlier.

While SBB cut staff in almost all cantons in Switzerland during this period, the number of jobs in Bern grew by over 400 full-time employees.

SBB is cutting around 1,400 jobs

SBB has not created a similar number of new jobs in any other canton – with the exception of Solothurn, which has benefited from the relocation of the SBB Cargo headquarters and the relocation of infrastructure jobs.

Fewer people work for SBB today even in cantons where the offer has been significantly expanded and more train drivers, shunting workers and customer service personnel are needed, for example in Aargau, in St. Gallen or in Zurich, where the rail offer opened during this period Diameter line has risen sharply.

Are SBB expanding their administration while fewer and fewer people work for the actual rail operations? The assumption is obvious, especially since SBB in the canton of Bern offers relatively few of its own services. Regional traffic there is in the hands of the competitor BLS.

Nevertheless, the SBB deny an expansion of the overhead. The administration is not growing. On the contrary, spokesman Reto Schärli said: “From 2017 to 2020, SBB will cut a total of around 1400 jobs, most of them in administration and administration.”

«In some cases, jobs are reduced in the company»

Many employees also worked in the operational area in Bern. The job growth in the canton can be explained by the fact that IT had internalized around 200 jobs and no longer employed these employees through external companies.

In addition, jobs in the human resources area were moved from Olten and Freiburg to Zollikofen and a new team for new mobility services with 35 full-time positions had been founded. “SBB attaches great importance to good anchoring in the regions,” says Schärli. These have even been strengthened in recent years.

In addition, SBB had created several hundred jobs in the productive area throughout Switzerland. But how does that fit in with the negative job balance in almost all cantons? Schärli admits that “some of the jobs in the company will be reduced”. Productivity increases made this possible.

Union: “Too tight savings”

The union of traffic personnel (SEV) criticizes. The job cuts in recent years are related to the Railfit savings program, says Vice President Barbara Spalinger. «It was primarily a program that targeted administrative positions. But there were also many projects that also affected jobs in the company. » The railways were too brisk: “The company saved far too much,” said Spalinger.

In 2019, with many construction sites and major events, the railways felt the effects. During this time, the railway kept making headlines. The punctuality decreased, train drivers had to work with overtime and special bonuses to ensure that the trains ran – and occasionally that was not even enough, so that individual connections failed.

“The mood was at a low point”

The SBB management also did not cut a good figure on various relocation projects, says Spalinger. For example, the “Traffic Control Centers”, in which train traffic is scheduled in the event of disruptions, should be centralized to a few locations. Employees from Bern and western Switzerland were suddenly supposed to work in Olten. “There was a real bang internally,” says Spalinger.

“In certain departments the fluctuation was 30 percent, the mood was at a low point.” Then last fall the train management ordered a pause for thought. The result: The planned relocations are only ordered selectively. The “collateral damage”, as Spalinger calls it, has already been done. The train had lost many good employees. “When I took over the dossier last September, I didn’t have a good feeling.”

In the meantime, however, a change of course is noticeable. “Dismantling in the company is no longer an issue – on the contrary. A lot of jobs are now being built there, ”said the trade unionist. The time of bloodletting in the company was over. There is currently a hiring freeze and “grosser financial problems” because of the corona crisis. But the direction is right. «The focus is again on the company. We notice that, »says Spalinger.

The new SBB CEO Vincent Ducrot is also setting the priorities correctly. “I have the impression that the current SBB management has understood what their core business is,” says Spalinger. “Of course we are very pleased.”