FUNCTIONAL AND SPATIAL SEGREGATION IN THE SWISS FINANCIAL SECTOR - PINK-COLLAR GHETTO AND MALE BASTION

Our purpose in this paper is to show the circumstances and consequence s of the extensive growth in employment in the Swiss financial sector that occurred in the 1980s, which are to a large extent responsible fo r the current patterns of restructuring and dismissal in Swiss banks. Four study areas were chosen: Switzerland as a whole; the city of Zuri ch; its surrounding suburban regions; and one particular suburban regi on. All these areas are highly identified with the financial sector. F irst we evaluate the changes in numbers of employees between 1980 and 1990 and the gender breakdown within different occupational categories in the three study areas. The data for the analysis were gained from the Swiss censuses of 1980 and 1990. Second, we look at the circumstan ces that caused the suburbanisation of bank back-office functions and the impact on office employment, putting special emphasis on women occ upied in clerical-secretarial work. The focus is on one suburban zone around Zurich which experienced the most noticeable growth in office e mployment of all suburban regions over the last two decades. The findi ngs of this study suggest that the Swiss banks are a male bastion. Wom en are mainly found in the lower qualified occupations, such as cleric al-secretarial work. Moreover, the suburban belt is characterised by a high percentage of women in pink-collar jobs whereas the city is domi nated by male employees.