Foreigners fill the void left by young Swiss and represent more than half of the classrooms in dairy training. Although they have the right to train and work, the authorities can however ask them to leave the country at any time, to the chagrin of their employers.
It is the pride of Switzerland throughout the world: cheese, of course! And, like the famous Swiss financial centre, the sector could not exist without foreign labour. And even without asylum seekers: cheese makers are turning more and more to foreigners to lend a hand in the production of Gruyère or Vacherin from Fribourg.
For what ? Quite simply because the profession attracts little young Swiss people. In fact, you have to get up at 5 o’clock in the morning, if not before, to start production, then turn the millstones, work until 7 o’clock in the evening to receive the milk, with a break all the same afternoon.
“I like to work physically”
The job is demanding, but that doesn’t bother Habteab Makele, who is employed in the cheese dairy in the village of Arconciel, near Fribourg: “I like to work physically, he explains. I come from a peasant family and with the cows, we made homemade yoghurts, homemade butter. But no cheese, which is less known. I discovered that when I arrived in Switzerland!”
The most delighted is perhaps the boss, Stéphane Schneuwly, admiring the progress made by his employee. And reassured to have found someone to run the shop: “When I was an apprentice, we had the Portuguese who were there and now it’s the Eritreans. Afterwards, I don’t know who it will be. We’ve always had a foreign hand. Now, maybe even more. We has no choice.”
Habteab still needs to graduate as a milk technologist. What he should do in the next few days if all goes well. The story is beautiful, but there is a… but. Because even if foreigners fill a void and companies want to hire them, they cannot always do so.
Authorities can deport them at any time
Indeed, like Habteab, many of these apprentices have applied for asylum in Switzerland. They have the right to train and work, but the authorities can at any time tell them to leave the country. To the chagrin of milk professionals who want to keep their employees: “For us, it’s not easy because we risk losing a good employee. And I put myself in their place: having worked five, six, seven years training, learning our language, to then be sent back to his country… We need him in the cheese dairy! We will do everything to keep him, but I don’t know how far we can go.”
The stakes are high. When we know that the milk sector employs 80,000 people in Switzerland. And that today, foreigners represent more than half of the classrooms in dairy training.