Roche and Nestlé fear talent crunch as Switzerland puts population cap to the polls

On Sunday (14 June), Switzerland is set to decide whether the country should implement the world’s first population cap. The divisive proposal, which is supported by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), has been pitched as a “sustainability initiative” aimed at limiting population growth and stemming immigration. However, for companies based in the country, the proposed cap at 10 million people could significantly limit access to international talent and damage economic growth in a country that has the fourth-highest GDP per capita in the world. Switzerland’s democratic system allows citizens to propose changes to the constitution through a popular initiative. If these initiatives receive 100,000 signatures from the Swiss electorate within 18 months, the proposal will be put to a referendum. While most constitutional changes proposed through this form of direct democracy have been unsuccessful, the referendum on limiting the Swiss population is expected to be close. Among eligible voters who intended to participate in the referendum, 45% would definitely or probably vote in favor of the initiative, according to polling from Swiss research company gfs.bern, while 52% would definitely or probably vote against. A further 3% remain undecided. If successful, the government would be required to introduce measures to prevent the Swiss population from exceeding 10 million before 2050—Switzerland currently has a population of 9.1 million. This could include tightening rules on asylum and family reunification, once the number of permanent residents reached 9.5 million, and terminating Switzerland’s agreement with the EU on the free movement of people, if the 10 million threshold is exceeded. Although Switzerland voted on a similar initiative in 2014, Martina Mousson, senior project manager at gfs.bern, says: “This is the first time a fixed population size is being defined for a country. Until now, the focus has always been on percentages rather than absolute figur