Cross-border work, new map

Anyone who has crossed a border every morning to get to work knows that behind every statistic on cross-border commuters there are early alarms, Eurocity trains running late regardless, and a routine that eventually turns into something close to an identity. Data recently published by Ticinonline describes a phenomenon being redrawn: French workers heading into Switzerland keep multiplying, while Italians, historically the second largest group, are starting to slow down. Having spent four years commuting across that same border, this shift feels personal.

Second-quarter 2026 figures: French workers up, Italians down

According to Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office (FSO), cross-border commuters working in the country reached 414,262 in the second quarter of 2026, up 0.5% on the previous quarter and 1.3% year on year. Within that total, though, national trends diverge sharply. French nationals make up 58.4% of the cross-border workforce and keep expanding, with annual growth of 2.7%. Italians, who account for 22.1%, instead recorded a 1.1% annual decline. Ticino, the traditional destination for workers arriving from Italy, counted 79,121 incoming commuters: up 0.6% on the quarter, but down 0.6% for the year.

Why Italian commuting is losing momentum

The reasons behind this slowdown are not straightforward. The main factor is the new tax treaty between Italy and Switzerland, in force since July 2023, which changed the tax treatment for anyone hired after that date: the old favourable terms are gone, replaced by shared taxation between the two countries that eats into part of the financial advantage. Add to that an unfavourable euro-franc exchange rate for people who earn in Swiss currency but live and spend in Italy, plus a Ticino economy less dynamic than other regions of the Confederation. One domestic factor should not be overlooked either: better employment conditions in some Italian sectors, from hospitality to services, which makes crossing the border for work feel less urgent.

Ticino is no longer driving the growth

Canton Ticino once acted as the engine of expansion, but the centre of gravity has since shifted westward. The Lake Geneva region is growing 2.8% a year, the Swiss Plateau 1.8%, and northwestern Switzerland 1%. Central Switzerland, by contrast, is losing 1.2%, and canton Zurich 1.5%. Geneva alone absorbs roughly half of all French commuters, with more than 100,000 people crossing the border there every day to reach their jobs. It mirrors two border economies moving at very different speeds: one, the Franco-Swiss side, in full expansion; the other, the Italian-Ticino side, going through a period of adjustment.

My years as a cross-border commuter, 2008 to 2012

I worked as a cross-border commuter from 2008 to 2012, three days a week, with a two-hour journey each way. The days were long, between the direct train and the tiredness that built up week after week. Living more than twenty kilometres from the border, I fell outside the zone that back then granted access to the tax breaks reserved for the so-called “old frontier workers”: I paid taxes under the standard regime, without the discounts enjoyed by colleagues living in towns closer to customs. Even so, that experience remains among the fondest memories of my working life. There was a constant sense of discovery, the feeling of moving between two worlds with different rhythms, languages, and habits.

Work permits, local suspicion, and daily oddities

Getting the work permit was anything but simple, even though the company had opened a Swiss branch specifically for my team: five rejections, before things finally unblocked thanks to the lawyer who had handled the branch’s opening. We had also had to hire two Swiss colleagues, wonderful people with whom a good working relationship formed right away. Even so, as cross-border workers we were viewed with suspicion by the local population: I still remember the slogans of a right-wing party comparing us to vermin. The contrast, when we eventually left, was almost comic: handing back the permit took less than five minutes. It could be said that immigration was not exactly encouraged, while leaving certainly was.

Then there were the small daily oddities that made everything feel surreal, almost fairy-tale-like: a language and terminology all of their own to learn, a widespread intolerance for noise, evident even in dedicated advertising posters, groups of emo teenagers hanging around under the office, and customs officers who stopped us with a certain regularity. The local cuisine, meanwhile, was far from five-star. Even the meal vouchers, worth a mere nine Swiss francs, barely covered a decent lunch, even though the salary itself remained generous. All things considered, though, it was an experience that enriched me a great deal.

Looking back on those years today

Reading these figures today makes me realise how much the context has changed since my commuting days. Now, with different priorities and a different kind of energy to manage, I think that pace would weigh on me too much. It is easy to understand, then, why so many Italian workers are reconsidering: between a less favourable tax treaty, a slowing Ticino economy, and better alternatives closer to home, the cost-benefit calculation of cross-border commuting is shifting for a lot of people. What remains, though, is the conviction that, for those who can sustain the pace, working in another country brings a kind of richness that goes well beyond the salary in francs.