Labor Market and Women's Labor Force in Developed Countries of Europe: Case of Switzerland and Germany

The labor market today is one of the most important markets of the developed industrial society, in addition to the financial market, the money market and the capital market. Changes in the labor market are conditioned by a number of factors, such as the place of the country in the world division of labor, its position in the flows of the globalized economy, demographic structure, and specificities of traditional culture and business ethics in a particular country. The subject of our socioeconomic research is position of women in the labor market of Switzerland and Germany. Both countries are highly developed, with a high employment rates and low unemployment. Germany belongs to the EU-28 family, whilst Switzerland is outside the family. In both countries, women are a significant part of the workforce. In their labor market, there has been significant share of foreign workers, which further complicates social and industrial relations. Switzerland and Germany are demographically old, but their population and employment policies are different. In both countries, attraction of the most educated work force is existent. In the labor market of Switzerland and Germany, there are inequalities in activity levels, employment and unemployment of women, wages and opportunities for the social promotion of men and women. These economic and social inequalities are maintained over long period, the state restricts or stimulates them with their economic and social policies, as well as a flexible labor market to varying degree, and depending on needs. Are these inequalities at the expense of the female workforce