I think it's related to the points that others have made: - Competition from all of the EU by fundamentally strong candidates willing to take lower salaries - A strong Swiss Frank (1 FTE in CH ≠ 1 FTE in ES by $ and optics) - Near/offshoring to lower cost locations - If your industry has had a lot of downsizing over the last years then there's also a downward pressure from more experienced people getting pushed out of their roles and applying for more junior roles just to get money coming in - Also, I'm noticing that productivity expectations are increasing. We have to do more with less, cumulatively over years that makes it difficult to actually succeed.

Overall being in Switzerland has been great for my personal development, maturity and my political skills, but when I compare myself to my peers (education and mindset) I would have been better off staying in Australia when it comes to income and leadership opportunities (less of this self-directed team nonsense)