When profawo was founded in Zurich in 1996, Switzerland was on the cusp of social change. More and more mothers wanted or needed to stay in the labour force, whilst institutional childcare was still in its infancy. It was in this context that the profawo association was established under the name Childcare Service Zurich, with the specific aim of making it easier to balance family and work.
Initially, the focus was set on a practical goal: to support working parents – 30 years ago, these were mainly mothers – in their search for reliable childcare, and to offer companies solutions that would enable them to continue employing their staff, even when they were mothers.
In the mid-1990s, the work-life balance in Switzerland was still largely characterised by individual solutions. Many families organised childcare through grandparents, whilst institutional provision was limited.
However, companies were increasingly realising that qualified staff could only be retained in the long term if they were able to balance family responsibilities with their careers.
This is where the idea for the Childcare Service came in: an organisation that connects employers and employees and creates concrete support services.
“What began as a single project has developed into an organisation that actively shapes the balance between family and career in Switzerland.”
A key factor in the early development was collaboration with companies. Even during the start-up phase, several large employers joined to offer their employees better childcare options.
Among the first member companies were:
These companies supported the project from the outset, thereby enabling the development of the first services.
The collaboration between the business sector and a non-profit organisation was an innovative approach at the time and laid the foundation for the subsequent network of over 200 member companies.
Initially, Childcare Service focused primarily on advising families and arranging childcare solutions. Concrete childcare services followed shortly after the organisation was founded.
In 1997, the first kids & co nursery opened in Zurich – a milestone in the organisation’s development. At the same time, the agency began placing nannies – then still referred to as ‘childminders’ – with families requiring flexible childcare.
This combination of advice, placement and in-house childcare services became a key component of the later profawo model.
Over the years, the originally small association developed into an organisation with a national reach. Today, profawo is a nationwide non-profit organisation that supports companies and their employees in balancing family and work throughout the entire life cycle. With services such as childcare, care for relatives, advisory services, courses and 23 childcare centres, profawo now reaches hundreds of thousands of employees in member companies across Switzerland.