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Pensum, befristet and Temporär: reading Swiss vacancies
Swiss advertisements often use compact terms that carry important practical information. Understanding them helps you compare roles across languages. Treat the advertisement as a starting point and confirm the actual arrangement in the written offer and employment documents.
Editorial review: 16 October 2026
Read workload separately from duration
Pensum means the workload percentage relative to the employer’s full-time arrangement. An 80% position describes working volume; the distribution across days still needs clarification. Unbefristet means an indefinite contract, while befristet means a fixed-term contract. French advertisements commonly use taux d’activité, CDI and CDD; Italian uses grado d’occupazione and contracts a tempo indeterminato or determinato.
Identify the employment relationship
Temporär commonly signals temporary staffing, which can involve an agency as employer and a client business as the assignment location. Ask who signs your contract, pays your salary and sets the assignment conditions. A fixed-term role directly with a company and an agency assignment may both be temporary in everyday language, but their contractual arrangements differ.
Resolve ambiguous selling points
Homeoffice, flexible working and negotiable workload need operational detail. Ask how many remote days apply to the specific position, which hours are fixed and where attendance is required. Ab sofort indicates a desired immediate start; nach Vereinbarung leaves timing for agreement. Compare these phrases with your notice period and any authorisation steps. Keep a short glossary with concrete questions as you review advertisements.