Our culture

Working at the EFTA Secretariat means working in a diverse and multicultural environment, where each and every staff member brings a variety of perspectives and experiences to the table.

At EFTA, our team is made up of staff from a wide range of nationalities, with the majority coming from our EFTA member states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland). We're very proud of our diverse workforce!

We maintain a good gender balance across our staff overall, with a slightly higher representation of women. In management roles, however, representation continues to reflect broader trends seen across many organizations, with more work still to do toward full parity (see our Gender Equality policy here).

We pride ourselves on being a workplace of equality, diversity, inclusion and mutual respect among employees, who shall be treated fairly and enjoy equal conditions and opportunities.

We run regular workplace surveys to understand what staff members like about the workplace, as well as what they think could be improved, and we then do our best to maintain what's working well and improve what isn't.

EFTA promotes flexibility when it comes to homeworking, to help ensure a good work-life balance. That said, office presence remains the norm, our staff come into the office at least 3 days a week, with up to two days of homeworking possible per week.

As most of our colleagues are expats, there's also the possibility to work from their home country, within a set cap on the number of days per year. It's a great way to know you can occasionally head back and enjoy time with family while still getting your work done!

Our Mission is to serve as a committed and trusted partner, providing high quality expertise and advice to our Member States in promoting free trade and economic integration. To achieve this, the EFTA Secretariat: 

  • Acts in the Member States’ best interests, facilitating cooperation and delivering high quality services
  • Is a respected partner that is credible, proactive and service-minded, adding value with relevant insights and deep expertise
  • Enables highly skilled individuals to develop their potential and provide the calibre of services required
Our Vision

While our work is serious, we don't take ourselves too seriously, we make sure to have fun along the way and build strong camaraderie among our team.

We host regular events throughout the year, organized either by our Animation Committee or within individual divisions: from Eurovision parties and summer drinks to the family Christmas party. We also hold our yearly seminar, where colleagues from all EFTA sites gather for two days in one of our duty stations (Brussels, Luxembourg, or Geneva), along with many other get-togethers throughout the year.