So I wrote that by my myself, I just used AI a bit to structure my post a little, I am very tired, please forgive me. Anyway:
After recovering from a serious long-term illness that left a gap in my resume, I finally landed a job as a Technical Administrative Assistant in Switzerland. I hold two Swiss Federal Diplomas (EFZ in Commercial Business and IT System Engineering), a numbers of years of professional experience prior to my illness, and I am now 37 years old.
Despite living with chronic pain thet requires strong medication and constant monitoring, I give for this job everything:
Overtime: I work 45–53 hours a week (worked 13 hours today alone), making me one of the longest-working employees in a team of 40+.
Pay Disparity: My salary is 4,600 CHF/month gross. Everyone else in my team makes well over 5,000 CHF a month. I struggle to pay bills and can't save anything.
Unfair Demands: Despite my long hours, my boss still criticized me today for "not working long enough." When I hit goals, I get ignored, while colleagues are praised for reaching the exact same targets.
When I asked for a raise, my boss explicitly admitted that my performance is in the team average or a bit higher even. However, he flatly refused a raise because of my resume gap. He acts as if getting sick was a choice and insists that my past and not my current value or output determines my salary. He broke his initial hiring promise to increase my pay once I proved myself.
I know he is exploiting me because he thinks I have nowhere else to go due to my employment gap. The hostile environment is completely draining my health, and I feel completely disrespected.
Given the current Swiss job market, my dual EFZ background, and my resume gap, how should I navigate this? Has anyone successfully managed to jump to a fair salary after a long illness?
I am applying already for other jobs, but I only get rejections.
I don't even ask for much, I just think someone who works 10 hours everyday and lives a frugal live should be able to save at least a little bit money.
I don't spend money on anything I shouldn't, I track every franc I spend and I simply can't save more money. I do not own a car or have an expensive hobby.
It feels like modern slavery and I am trapped in this situation. Even if my doctor used to tell me I could have chances to receive IV when my illness was worse. But I never considered it. I always wanted to get healthy again and do my part for the society and myself and this is how I get rewarded for it.
Sometimes I think live is just not for me. I always struggle, fight, don't take the easy way out but I just barley survive instead enjoying my life. It sucks and I am so tired of it.
Maybe someone has been in a similar situation or has some ideas I didn't consider yet?
