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In Switzerland, most people go into trades. Higher education is not seen ad having higher status in any way. Also, if you call a plumber to fix your broken sink

In Switzerland, most people go into trades. Higher education is not seen ad having higher status in any way. Also, if you call a plumber to fix your broken sink, it's going to be really expensive.

FranzFerdiNaN 8y ago
So most people go into trades and yet it’s still incredibly expensive to hire a tradesperson? Sounds like the market is failing.
- bdamm 8y ago
  I'm not sure why you're being downvoted. It's a legit question.
  - TomMarius 8y ago
    Switzerland is known for high fixed cost of living. It has been said that the Swiss people don't place higher value on "lesser" tasks, so it makes complete sense that it is expensive without any relation to how much the market is saturated - it wouldn't become cheap even if the market was oversaturated, rather some people would go away from that market - because of fixed costs of living.
  - krageon 8y ago
    Because we've all heard the "market" arguments hundreds of times here and they never seem to have much to do with reality at all. It's gotten to the point where I have real trouble assuming good faith when someone brings it up again.
- meuk 8y ago
  Well, job pay seems to be based on status anyway. Switzerland is ridiculously rich either way.
- navane 8y ago
  Perhaps people go into the trades _because_ they are expensive to hire. The market works two ways.
- Mirioron 8y ago
  Aren't many of these trades very very heavily regulated? I'm not sure how much of a market you have there in the first place.
- Maken 8y ago
  Given the option, people don't flock to low paying jobs, so the market works both ways. If you want to have a good pool of good workers you have to pay accordingly.
bitL 8y ago
Buying meat in Switzerland is expensive. Milkmen earn 90k CHF/year ($90k) so milk/cheese aren't cheap either. It's how SUI operates; this can't be really extended to US with a completely different economy.

In Switzerland, most people go into trades. Higher education is not seen ad having higher status in any way. Also, if you call a plumber to fix your broken sink, it's going to be really expensive.

FranzFerdiNaN 8y ago

So most people go into trades and yet it’s still incredibly expensive to hire a tradesperson? Sounds like the market is failing.

bdamm 8y ago
I'm not sure why you're being downvoted. It's a legit question.
- TomMarius 8y ago
  Switzerland is known for high fixed cost of living. It has been said that the Swiss people don't place higher value on "lesser" tasks, so it makes complete sense that it is expensive without any relation to how much the market is saturated - it wouldn't become cheap even if the market was oversaturated, rather some people would go away from that market - because of fixed costs of living.
- krageon 8y ago
  Because we've all heard the "market" arguments hundreds of times here and they never seem to have much to do with reality at all. It's gotten to the point where I have real trouble assuming good faith when someone brings it up again.
meuk 8y ago
Well, job pay seems to be based on status anyway. Switzerland is ridiculously rich either way.
navane 8y ago
Perhaps people go into the trades _because_ they are expensive to hire. The market works two ways.
Mirioron 8y ago
Aren't many of these trades very very heavily regulated? I'm not sure how much of a market you have there in the first place.
Maken 8y ago
Given the option, people don't flock to low paying jobs, so the market works both ways. If you want to have a good pool of good workers you have to pay accordingly.

bitL 8y ago

Buying meat in Switzerland is expensive. Milkmen earn 90k CHF/year ($90k) so milk/cheese aren't cheap either. It's how SUI operates; this can't be really extended to US with a completely different economy.