What one marketer
really costs.
Salary is about three quarters of it. Enter a role and see the rest, with a source on every line.
Statutory employer contributions, the recruitment fee and the real start date, for Switzerland and Germany. Nothing is gated.
The inputs.
Swiss figures from the Michael Page Salary Guide 2026. Excludes bonus.
Michael Page Salary Guide 2026. Excludes bonus.
Pension contributions rise with age. This isn't us being nosy.
Cantonal. Default 1.80% (St. Gallen). Change it to your canton's rate.
Market practice is 15 to 30% of first-year salary. No statistical body measures this in DACH, so treat it as a rate card, not a study.
Swiss statutory notice by years of service: under 1 year 1 month, 2 to 9 years 2 months, 10+ 3 months (OR Art. 335c).
Salary CHF 160,000 · hidden cost CHF 48,203 · employer contributions run at 10.1% of salary.
- Base salaryCHF 160,000
Michael Page Salary Guide 2026, Switzerland. Excludes bonus.
- AHV / IV / EO (5.30%)CHF 8,480
AHV/IV/EO employer share 5.30%, uncapped, BSV, 2026 rates.
- ALV (1.10%, capped at CHF 148,200)CHF 1,630
Unemployment insurance employer share 1.10% up to CHF 148,200, SECO / AHV Memento 2.08.
- Family allowances (1.80%, cantonal)CHF 2,880
FAK rate is cantonal. Default 1.80% (St. Gallen). Editable, check your canton.
- BVG pension, employer minimumCHF 3,213
Entry threshold CHF 22,680 · coordination deduction CHF 26,460 · max coordinated CHF 64,260 · age credit rate · employer pays at least half (Art. 66 BVG).
- Recruitment fee (20%)CHF 32,000
Agency rate card, 15 to 30% of first-year salary. No DACH statistical body measures this.
- Year one totalCHF 208,203
- Software they'll needUSD 4,396
Adobe CC Pro, Semrush SEO, Hootsuite Standard, Adobe Stock. Vendor list prices in USD, not converted, because you'll be billed in USD.
Deliberately excluded: bonus, the Suva accident premium (no rate is published for office risk classes), and your own time. All three would push this number up. We left them out.
You priced one of five.
A Head of Marketing does not do design, video, paid media or lifecycle. Same engine, same assumptions, applied to the roles you would still be short. Michael Page Salary Guide 2026, average column.
- Marketing ManagerCHF 120,000 baseCHF 157,053
- Performance / SEO / SEACHF 100,000 baseCHF 131,413
- Social & CommunityCHF 95,000 baseCHF 125,003
- Brand / UX DesignerCHF 95,000 baseCHF 125,003
- Content & CopywritingCHF 80,000 baseCHF 105,237
Every figure uses your inputs, same canton rate, same age band, same recruitment fee. Change anything above and these move with it.
And they start in January 2027.
Seventy days from posting to a signature, on the DACH average. Then the notice period. Measured across 2.5 million applications by XING, 2023 to 2025.
- 01: You decideToday
Brief written, budget signed off.
- 02: They sign28 October 2026
70 days of posting, screening, three rounds and a negotiation.
- 03: They start1 January 2027
Notice ends 31 December 2026. 135 days from today.
Four questions. Answer honestly.
- 01
Is marketing your product, a marketplace, a media business, a community you own?
- 02
Do you need someone in the room daily, reacting hourly?
- 03
Are you in a heavily regulated review environment, pharma, finance, medtech?
- 04
Do you already have a clear brief, a defined role, a stable plan and the budget?
Answer all four to see the verdict. It can say "don't call us", that outcome is real.
What the first two weeks produce.
You have just seen the number. Here is what happens instead of a job posting, and how quickly it turns into work you can point at.
Discovery
We assess your brand positioning, market landscape, gaps and growth objectives.
Marketing Audit
What's working, what's missing, and what needs to be rebuilt. A clear picture of the gap between where your firm is and where your brand says you are.
Strategy
We develop your marketing strategy, messaging framework, channel plan, and a clear 90-day execution roadmap.
Execution
Hands-on and collaborative. We integrate with teams at the point of action, ensuring progress without duplication.
Want the full breakdown?
The complete build-up with every source, the notice-period rules for all three DACH countries, and the four hiring statistics everyone prints that nobody can source. One email, no sequence.