Part I: Hello. I’m No Longer Eligible for Unemployment Benefits.

1 July 2026. 5:00 a.m.

The alarm goes off.

“Good morning. You are no longer eligible for unemployment benefits. Congratulations.”

Or at least that’s how I imagined it.

I honestly expected the sky to split open dramatically on my first day of being “ausgesteuert.” Dark storm clouds. Thunder. A booming voice worthy of Philip Maloney announcing my new status. Surely it would make the morning news. Or at least the front page of a newspaper. The sparrows would be chirping it from the rooftops.

But nothing.

The world, at least for this reason, doesn’t fall apart. No requiem. No drum roll. No flags flying at half-mast.

It’s simply Wednesday.

An ordinary Wednesday.

At least on the outside.

And on the inside?

I pause for a moment. I turn my attention inward. Thoughts. Feelings. Body.

There’s a slight flutter in my stomach.

Nothing dramatic.

More like sparkling water.

If I were to start ruminating now, that little flutter could quickly turn into a volcano. Existential fears. End-of-the-world scenarios. Catastrophe movies in Dolby Surround.

Only that wouldn’t help me in the slightest.

So I decide not to go there.

Not today.

Especially since there are no visible signs of the apocalypse anywhere on the horizon.

So it remains…

Wednesday.

Being “ausgesteuert” is surprisingly unspectacular in Switzerland.

A few forms.

Accident insurance.

Daily allowance insurance.

Transfer your pension assets to a vested benefits account.

Voilà.

And then?

That’s it.

You’re out.

What occupies my mind isn’t the paperwork. Not the forms. It’s the casualness of the word itself.

Ausgesteuert.

There isn’t even a satisfying English equivalent.

It sounds as though someone has removed me from the driver’s seat. Disconnected me from the controls. Quietly taken me out of the system.

Yesterday I was an employee.

Today I’m something else.

Statistically speaking.

One of roughly 25,000 people who exhaust their unemployment benefits in Switzerland every year.

A number.

Nothing more.

A Swiss government press release from late 2024 proudly reported that more than half of those affected are back in work within a year. After five years, two thirds have found employment again.

Sounds encouraging.

Almost comforting.

So I did the maths.

If around 25,000 people are “ausgesteuert” every year, and after five years two thirds are working again, one third remains.

About 8,300 people.

Every single year.

People who still haven’t found work after five years.

People who slowly disappear from the statistics.

Out of sight.

Out of mind.

That’s the fascinating part.

And the disturbing part.

Because the very same statistics can be told differently.

“Two thirds find work again.”

Or:

“One third still hasn’t found work after five years.”

Both statements are true.

The numbers don’t change.

Only the frame through which we choose to see them.

Perhaps that’s why it’s worth looking beyond headlines. Beyond press releases. Beyond statistics.

Because behind every number stands a person.

With a story.

With hopes.

With sleepless nights.

With fears about the future.

And sometimes…

with a perfectly ordinary Wednesday.

Hello.

My name is Simone.

I hold two master’s degrees and a bachelor’s degree. I speak four languages. I worked continuously for almost forty years. I built a straightforward career in communications.

And as of today…

I am one of the statistics.

This is the first essay in a personal series exploring work, identity, mental health, and what becomes of us when the role that has shaped our lives suddenly disappears.