Actor Susanne Kunz and musician Andres Andrekson, aka Stress, discussed the topic “The pay gap – why money makes a difference” at PostFinance’s first RealTalk, held in Zurich on Thursday, 26 January 2023.

“It’s still common for women to systematically earn less than men across the board,” said actor Susanne Kunz last Thursday evening at PostFinance’s first RealTalk on the topic of “The pay gap – why money makes a difference”. She speaks from her own experience and of wage differences of up to 50% in show business. “The wage taboo needs to be broken,” she underlines. Her formula is to have an open discussion among teammates and the courage to claim a wage in line with your experience and skills. “We need to talk about our salaries within projects and negotiate better.”

In Stress’ band, a woman earns the highest wage

Her panel partner, Stress, has equally little time for wage inequality. As his band’s employer, one thing is clear to him: “It’s not about whether the person is a woman or a man. It’s about me filling the jobs with the best talent.” In his band, which includes five musicians, it is one of the two women who earns the highest salary. Even though he himself doesn’t notice any wage differences between men and women in his own environment, he considers it important that wage inequality is addressed – in addition to the division of roles between men and women. “Switzerland’s a very rich country, but also very conservative. That really amazes me.”

Things aren’t progressing quickly enough

At RealTalk, held at Labor5 in Zurich and chaired by Viola Tami, the two guests spoke openly and frankly, exchanging experiences about wages and wage differences in show business. What everyone agrees on is that progress on matters related to equal rights and equal pay isn’t happening quickly enough. According to the Swiss Earnings Structure Survey 2020, the wage gap between men and women in Switzerland is 13.8%.

PostFinance launches “RealTalk” – the new talk series on gender equality that calls a spade a spade

To promote topics related to successful interaction between genders, PostFinance launched a new event series on 26 January 2023. “We want to use the RealTalk series to encourage discussion, so that the genders are equally heard, seen, respected and valued,” says Bernadette Koch, Member of the PostFinance Board of Directors, explaining the reasons for launching the new event series. This is in line with PostFinance’s values and corporate goals, which promote diversity in all areas of life and focus on gender equality. At the events, which will be held three times a year in different regions of the country, exciting personalities will share insights into how they experience teamwork in their private lives and in their workplace, what challenges they encounter and the significance of money for achieving gender equality.

Closing the remaining gaps

PostFinance is also committed to fair salaries, and for this reason, it regularly reviews equal pay. Even if the current equal pay analysis based on the October 2020 salary data shows that the inexplicable pay gap between men and women at PostFinance is relatively small, at only 2.3% to the detriment of women, PostFinance intends to close the gap even further by implementing targeted measures. As Ron Schneider, Head of Human Resources at PostFinance, writes in his assessment of the analysis: “Every salary percentage that cannot be explained is one too many.”

The next RealTalk dates

• Lausanne, 15 June 2023: Topic: The pay gap – why money makes a difference (in French)
• Bern, 26 October 2023: Topic: Housewives and househusbands: retirement planning, income and prejudices