By Ivan Rego
I spent a long time thinking about how to open this article. Should I go in hard with a provocative headline? The possibilities were endless: “If nobody talks to you about occupational pension in an interview, you’re leaving money on the table”, “The occupational pension details you are never told before signing”, or even “Occupational pension: a key pillar too often overlooked by candidates and employers”.
But the aim is not to single out or blame hiring managers. It is instead to recall the fundamental role of occupational pension provision and restore it to the place it deserves: at the heart of total compensation.
Even today, it is striking how rarely occupational pension is discussed during recruitment processes. Candidates, often focused on presenting their background, skills and motivations, seldom think to ask questions about the pension scheme or the company’s pension fund — or perhaps they simply do not see it as a priority.
Employers, for their part, generally emphasize the most visible elements of the package: salary, bonus, remote work, and benefits in kind (transport passes, company cars, and so on).
Is this a deliberate omission? An employer whose plan is limited to the statutory minimum does not necessarily have an interest in highlighting that point.
Or is it simply that, in today’s market reality, occupational pension is not seen as sufficiently high on the agenda to be raised before the contract is signed?
Yet the impact of one pension plan versus another can be considerable for an insured person’s retirement.
A useful reminder: the occupational pension law sets only the statutory minimums that each plan must meet. In 2025, the maximum insured/coordination salary under LPP amounts to CHF 64’260.-.
What does that mean? If your employer has subscribed to a minimum LPP plan, your contributions and potential future benefits will be calculated on this amount, regardless of your actual gross salary.
To illustrate this, let us take the example of a 46-year-old employee with an annual salary of CHF 85’000.-:
That is a difference of CHF 6519.-, credited directly to your LPP retirement savings.
Every year. Net. Without direct tax.
One can easily imagine the effect this can have over several years, and even more so at higher salary levels.
The point is, of course, not to blame employers offering only a minimum plan. It should be kept in mind that all of this represents a significant cost for companies; at the very least, half of the contributions are paid by the employer. For some organisations, increasing these costs could weaken them, or even curb their hiring capacity.
Moreover, some employers choose to invest in other components of total compensation, such as higher salaries or different benefits.
Beyond the choice of plan, it is also essential to take an interest in the pension fund itself. Except in specific cases such as public-sector employers or certain collective labour agreements, the employer has almost complete freedom to choose the pension institution to which it wishes to affiliate its staff. By way of reference, there were 1,237 pension funds in 2024, according to CHS PP.
Pension funds differ in particular through their financial performance and the interest rate they credit to insured members each year. As you know, they invest retirement assets in financial markets. Part of the returns generated is then redistributed to policyholders.
In 2025, the minimum LPP interest rate stands at 1.25% and applies only to the mandatory portion (minimum LPP provisions). However, some funds do not stop there. When comparing pension funds and the interest they credit, it becomes clear that the rate distributed can rise to as much as 8% (“verzinsung 2025”, Pensionskassenvergleich.ch).
Let us illustrate this with an LPP balance of CHF 200’000.-:
Of course, it is necessary to check whether the rate is comprehensive or applies only to the mandatory portion. Even so, the example gives a sense of the magnitude of the differences involved.
The issue of the conversion rate would also deserve a place in this article. It directly affects the amount of the pension received and, consequently, future financial planning. That said, this aspect is often less decisive in a job interview context, except when recruiting a senior employee approaching retirement age.
So, candidates: do not hesitate to ask the right questions when the time comes to discuss the overall package. Depending on your personal situation, the impact may be far more significant than it first appears. Above all, do not stop at “we have a good LPP plan”.
And employers: do not be afraid to showcase this aspect. The quality of your occupational pension offering will become a key element of your employer brand, but also an essential lever for talent retention. All the more so in a context where the outlook for our retirement savings is hardly reassuring…
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