Elham Asaad Buaras

An online job advertisement for a Swiss transport company seeking a ‘Helvetian’ (a native Swiss) driver who eats ‘pork steak and sausages’ has caused outrage.

Schärer Transport AG, based in St Gallen, north-east of the country, has been criticised for discrimination by Switzerland’s Federal Commission Against Racism (CFR). Head of CFR, Alma Wiecken, said the advert excludes “certain specific groups of the population.”

The advert’s language also caused an uproar among Swiss with a migrant background. The advert emphasises that the company seeks an ‘Eidgenossen’, a term used to refer to somebody of Swiss origin, which can also have far-right connotations too.

Commenting online with a post titled ‘Please, no foreigner!’ President of Switzerland’s Social Democratic Party’s Bujar Zenuni, said, “From the onset, it becomes clear that the management of Schärer Transport AG does not want to hire people with a migration background.”

The ad states that “workers happily eat a pork steak and sausages together after work,” which Zenuni argues discriminates against several demographic groups who abstain from eating pork.

“This is probably the first job ad that explicitly mentions what to eat after work. It sends the clear signal to Jewish, Muslim or vegetarian people, whether or not they are ‘Eidgnessen’, that they are expected to eat the same,” said Zenuni.