Wage increase after completion of the "Retail Trade Specialist" course

Calculate your salary opportunities with just a few clicks using the federal salary calculator. This will give you an idea of how much you could earn after completing the course leading to the Federal Certificate of Competence in Retail Specialist.

Criteria such as sector, region, employer, training, professional experience and age play a decisive role in the development of the salary. We are happy to help you with the calculation with an example of a retail specialist salary. A 25-year-old retail trade specialist in further training earns around CHF 4,588 per month in the retail trade sector in the Zurich area. After passing the professional examination as a retail specialist, he takes on specialist tasks and is promoted to a higher salary group. This increases his salary to CHF 5,335 - and even to CHF 6,064 if he is a manager.

This is how you proceed: Click on "Salarium - statistical salary calculator" below and then on the "Calculate salary" button

  • Step 1: Enter your region / place of work (e.g. Zurich)
  • Step 2: Enter your industry (47 Retail trade)
  • Step 3: Enter the occupational group (52 sales staff)
  • Step 4: Position in the company - Select "Without management function"
  • Step 5: Weekly hours 42
  • Step 6: Training: Completed vocational training
  • Step 7: Enter your age (e.g. 25 years)
  • Step 8: Enter further optional information (if available and desired)

The basic salary in our calculation is CHF 4,588.00. To calculate the salary with the completed further training as a retail trade specialist, go back to the "Training" section and select "Higher vocational training / higher technical college". This will give you a new average salary of CHF 5,335.00. As many graduates move into a lower or middle management position after completing the course, you can enter "Lower management" under "Position in company". This results in an average salary of CHF 6,064.00.

Note: The calculation is intended as an example and is always a rounded figure. As mentioned above, the salary depends on various factors and sometimes varies greatly.

Source:"Federal Statistical Office, FSO"

Note: This sample calculation refers to the data of Salarium 2023, this service is temporarily interrupted. Information can be foundhere. A list of other payroll calculator tools is availablehere.

Another example of a retail specialist with a federal certificate: CHF 1.06 million more salary until retirement

Florian works as a retail specialist in an organic grocery store in Küssnacht. He is 23 years old and likes to advise customers on choosing the right products from the wide range to suit their specific dietary needs and requirements. Florian himself is gluten intolerant and has a wheat allergy. Organic food is important to him for health reasons and because it is sustainable. He enjoys direct contact with people and has a flair for organic food trends. He uses his creativity to showcase products for promotions and seasonal exhibitions and his window displays are well received by customers. They also attract new customers to the organic store. Florian also actively supports his store manager with product procurement and sales evaluations. His dream is to run his own organic grocery store. To achieve this, Florian started his further training to become a retail specialist with a federal certificate. The professional examination in retail trade will provide him with sound theoretical knowledge and practical skills in procurement, logistics, sales, management, staff management and marketing. This will secure him a challenging management position in the retail sector, better prospects on the job market and higher earning potential.

Financial benefits of further training as a retail specialist

As a retail specialist, Florian will receive CHF 2,248 more per month than before and will therefore have at least CHF 1.06 million more at his disposal by the time he retires than if he had not done any further training.

As this theoretical calculation does not take into account any further salary increases, promotions or interest on savings, the salary can still increase significantly.

Calculation in detail

Further training as a retail specialist BP:

  • 18 months part-time
  • Loss of salary due to a reduced workload of 90%: 18 x CHF 426.4 = CHF 7,675.2
  • School fees, documents: CHF 7,740 minus CHF 3,870 federal contribution = CHF 3,870
  • Exam fee: CHF 1'050
  • Total training costs: CHF 12'595.20

Wage difference and yield calculation:

  • Difference in salary between the position of retail specialist EFZ and the position of retail specialist: CHF 6,512 - CHF 4,264 = CHF 2,248 per month and CHF 26,976 per year (12 x CHF 2,248 = CHF 26,976)
  • He recoups the total training costs of CHF 16,260 with his higher salary as a retail specialist in around 6 months (CHF 12,595.20 / CHF 2,248 per month = 5.6 months)
  • In the remaining 40 years until his retirement (25 to 65), this additional income will add up to CHF 1,079,040 (40 x CHF 26,976 = CHF 1,079,040)
  • If the training costs are deducted from this additional income, an additional sum of around CHF 1,066,445 remains at his disposal(CHF 1'079'040 - CHF 12'595.20= CHF 1'066'444.8)

Sources:

  • The training costs correspond to an average of the courses offered in German-speaking Switzerland.
  • Wages were calculated in the federal wage calculator www.salarium.ch with the following settings:
  • Calculations as a retail trade specialist EFZbefore the professional examination:
    • Region: Central Switzerland
    • Sector: 47 Retail trade
    • Occupational group: 52 Sales staff
    • Position in the company: Level 5 without management function
    • Hours per week: 42 hours
    • Education: Completed vocational training
    • Age: 23 years
    • Years of service: not specified
    • Company size: less than 20 employees
    • 12/13 monthly salary: 13 monthly salary (converted pro rata to 12 salaries)
    • Special payments: no
    • Monthly / hourly wage: Monthly wage
    • Result:Central value (median) ofCHF 4'264
  • Calculationsafter the professional examination "Retail Trade Specialist":
    • Region: Central Switzerland
    • Sector: 47 Retail trade
    • Occupational group: 52 Sales staff
    • Position in the company: Level 1 + 2 Upper and middle management
    • Hours per week: 42 hours
    • Education: Higher vocational training, higher technical college
    • Age: 25 years
    • Years of service: not specified
    • Company size: less than 20 employees
    • 12/13 monthly salary: 13 monthly salary (converted pro rata to 12 salaries)
    • Special payments: no
    • Monthly / hourly wage: Monthly wage
    • Result:Central value (median) ofCHF 6'512

(All figures as at October 2022)

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Salarium - Statistischer Lohnrechner

Here you can find an educational institute that offers the course "Retail Trade Specialist":

Overview of schools "Retail trade specialist (BP)"