Wage increase after completion of the "Caretaker (FPE)" course
Anyone who passes the Federal Professional Examination to become a janitor has good prospectswith the Federal Diploma of Higher Education also receive a higher salary.Because aHigher vocational training also pays off financially.
Important criteria for determining wages
Your personal salary opportunities depend on various criteria such as the industry, the region, your employer, your previous training, your professional experience and your age. However, you can calculate your potential salary increase using the "Salarium" salary calculator.
We have calculated a case for you as an example: A 30-year-old heating engineer in the Basel area earns around CHF 4,890 per month as a janitor. After completing the Federal Professional Examination, his salary increases.
Click on "Salarium - statistical wage calculator" under Source and then on the "Calculate wages" button:
- Region: Choose your region / place of work (in the example Basel, Northwestern Switzerland)
- Sector: 81 Building management
- Occupational group: Enter "Caretaker, federally certified" and Salarium will suggest the corresponding occupational group: 51 Occupations in the field of personal services
- Position in the company: Level 3+4: Lower management
- Hours per week: 42
- Education: Higher vocational training, College of Higher Education
- Age: Your estimated age after completing the continuing education, further training (30 in the example)
- Years of service: Your number of years of service (0 in the example)
- Company size: 20 to 49 employees in the example
- 12/13 monthly salary: 12 monthly salaries
- Special payments: No
- Monthly/hourly wage: Monthly wage
Source:"Federal Statistical Office, FSO"
Note: This sample calculation refers to the data from Salarium (end of 2024). You can find informationhere. A list of other payroll calculator tools is availablehere.
The example salary in our calculation is CHF 5,418.
Please note: The calculation is intended as an example of a janitor and is always a rounded figure. As mentioned above, the salary depends on various factors and can vary considerably.
Example janitor with Federal Diploma of Higher Education: CHF 216,000 more salary until retirement
Paul is 23 years old and works as a Federal VET Diploma building cleaner in a large building maintenance company in the Fribourg region. He enjoys his work in building maintenance and can contribute to the cleanliness and hygiene of buildings. By regularly cleaning and maintaining buildings, he can make a significant contribution to preserving their value. In addition to cleaning, Paul can also take on more and more building maintenance tasks, such as replacing incandescent materials or carrying out minor repairs and meter checks. He is characterized by a high level of reliability, careful working methods and technical flair. Paul would like to progress professionally and be able to work more independently. To this end, he is completing continuing education, further training as a janitor. This will enable him to expand his knowledge of building maintenance and technology as well as the care of green spaces. By taking the Federal Professional Examination as a janitor with a federal certificate, Paul improves his career development opportunities and secures higher wages in the long term. He can even manage a small team of employees. Later on, he can also imagine working as a self-employed janitor.
Financial benefits of continuing education, further training for janitors
As a janitor, Paul will receive CHF 471 more per month than before and will therefore have at least CHF 216,000 more at his disposal by the time he retires than if he had not done any continuing education, 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.
Continuing education, further training FPE janitor: CHF 10'050
- 24 months, part-time
- School fees, documents: CHF 15,285 minus CHF 7,435 federal contribution = CHF 7,850
- Exam fee: CHF 2'200
- Total training costs: CHF 10'050
Salary difference and return calculation: CHF 216,000
- Difference in salary between the position of Federal VET Diploma building cleaner and the position of janitor: CHF 5,126 - CHF 4,655 = CHF 471 per month and CHF 5,652 per year (12 x CHF 471 = CHF 5,652)
- He recoups the entire training costs of CHF 10,050 in a good 21 months with his higher salary as a janitor (CHF 10,050 / CHF 471 per month = 21.3 months)
- Over the remaining 40 years until his retirement (25 to 65), this additional income will add up to CHF 226,080 (40 x CHF 5,652 = CHF 226,080)
- If the training costs are deducted from this additional income, an additional sum of around CHF 216,000 remains at his disposal(CHF 226'080 - CHF 10'050 = CHF 216'030)
The training costs correspond to an average of the courses offered in German-speaking Switzerland.
The wages were calculated in the federal wage calculatorwww.salarium.chwith the following settings:
Calculations with building cleaners Federal VET Diplomabefore the Federal Professional Examination: CHF 4'655
- Region: Espace Mittelland
- Industry sector: 81 Building services; Gardening and landscaping
- Occupational group: 71 Construction and finishing workers and related occupations, excl. Electricians
- 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: 50 and more 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 4'655
CalculationsAfter the Federal Professional Examination for janitors: CHF 5,126
- Region: Espace Mittelland
- Industry sector: 81 Building services; Gardening and landscaping
- Occupational group: 51 Occupations in the field of personal services
- Position in the company: Level 3+4 Lower management
- Hours per week: 42 hours
- Education: Higher vocational training, College of Higher Education
- Age: 25 years
- Years of service: not specified
- Company size: 50 and more 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 5'126
(All figures as at November 2022)
Here you will find educational institutions that offer the course Caretaker (FPE):
