Bundesamt für Zivildienst ZIVI

What Bundesamt für Zivildienst ZIVI does

The Bundesamt für Zivildienst (ZIVI) is the Swiss federal authority responsible for administering civilian service as the constitutional alternative to military service for conscientious objectors. Operating under the Eidgenössisches Departement für Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung (WBF), ZIVI manages the full lifecycle of civilian service: processing applications (admission based on the Tatbeweislösung since 2009, requiring 1.5x the military service duration), training draftees at the Schwarzsee education center, and matching them to assigned deployment positions across Switzerland. In 2025, ZIVI processed 7,211 admissions (a record high), oversaw nearly 1.9 million service days, and worked with 4,264 recognized deployment companies.

ZIVI's core technology is the ZiviConnect digital platform, which enables administrative management of civil service obligations including deployment planning and compliance tracking. The agency also operates the Zivi-Kleider merchandise shop for branded clothing. Service delivery is concentrated in four sectors: social welfare (50.4% of service days), schools (18.1%), healthcare (14.8%), and environment/nature conservation (9.6%). The agency conducts 1,033 inspections annually (988 unannounced) to ensure quality and compliance across deployment companies.

As a federal government agency, ZIVI is funded through the Swiss federal budget and does not generate commercial revenue. Deployment companies pay a per-day fee (set to increase 7.5% effective January 2027). The agency is led by a small headcount of approximately 140 employees headquartered in Thun, with departmental leadership including Christoph Flückiger (Head of Communications) and Christian Richterich (Head of Legal). Upcoming regulatory changes from the June 2026 referendum and January 2027 ZDV amendment will tighten admission conditions and introduce a new training framework.

Name

Bundesamt für Zivildienst ZIVI

Legal name

Bundesamt für Zivildienst

Website

https://zivi.admin.ch

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Swiss Federal Office for Civilian Service (ZIVI) administers civilian service as the alternative to military service for conscientious objectors, managing admissions, training, and deployment of draftees across 4,264 deployment companies in Switzerland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Thun

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ZIVI is the Swiss federal authority that administers civilian service as an alternative to military service for conscientious objectors. The agency manages the full lifecycle of civil service obligations, including admissions processing, training delivery at the Ausbildungszentrum Schwarzsee, assignment of service personnel to 4,264 recognized deployment companies, and compliance enforcement through inspections and disciplinary actions. It also operates the ZiviConnect digital platform for administrative management and a merchandise shop for civil service participants.

Product overview

Bundesamt für Zivildienst ZIVI is the Swiss Federal Office for Civilian Service, a government agency responsible for administering Switzerland's civil service program. The agency offers two digital offerings: ZiviConnect, a core digital platform enabling efficient administrative management of civil service obligations including deployment planning and compliance tracking; and Zivi-Kleider, a merchandise e-commerce shop selling Zivi-branded clothing. These operate alongside the agency's core governmental functions of managing civil service admissions, deployments, and training.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ZiviConnect Digital administration platform enabling efficient administrative management of civil service obligations, including deployment planning and compliance tracking. Used by civil service participants and deployment organizations to manage service day assignments and regulatory compliance.
• Zivi-Kleider (Zivi Shop) Online merchandise shop selling Zivi-branded clothing and accessories for civil service participants.
• Civilian Service Deployment Program Federal program administering civilian service obligations for Swiss conscientious objectors, requiring 1.5x the duration of military service. Manages admissions, assigns personnel to deployment companies, and enforces compliance through inspections and disciplinary measures.

Quantifiable outcome

• 98% of civil service obligated persons complete all their service days
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Peace Corps: US federal agency deploying volunteers in development and community service roles internationally. Thematically related as a federal government organization running a structured national-service deployment program, but oriented overseas and toward development rather than domestic welfare deployment.
• UN Volunteers (UNV): United Nations program that places volunteers in peace and development projects globally. Conceptually adjacent (volunteer deployment program administered by a multilateral/quasi-public organization) but oriented internationally and development-focused rather than a domestic federal-administered service obligation.

Direct peers

• Bundesfreiwilligendienst (Federal Volunteer Service Germany): Germany's federal program channeling volunteers into social welfare, environmental, and educational placements via a dedicated federal agency. Functionally the closest international analogue to ZIVI's mandate of administering civilian service placements — though structured as voluntary rather than a military-service alternative.
• Agence du Service Civique (France): French state agency administering the service civique — paid placements of young people in social, educational, health, environmental, and emergency-response organizations. Closest continental European peer operating as a dedicated federal/public-agency platform for assigning national-service personnel to public-interest host organizations.
• Zivildienst Austria: Austrian federal civilian service agency running a near-identical model: conscientious objectors serve in recognized social/environmental/healthcare institutions under federal administration. Direct structural equivalent given shared conscription and conscientious-objection traditions with Switzerland.

Broad incumbents

• AmeriCorps (US): US federal national-service program channeling volunteers into education, public safety, health, and environment placements through state commissions and large nonprofits. Operates at materially larger scale with grant funding rather than conscription, but a US structural counterpart delivering national-service labor to socially valuable host organizations.

Regional players

• Eidgenössisches Departement für Verteidigung, Bevölkerungsschutz und Sport (VBS): Swiss federal defense department that oversees the Swiss Armed Forces, the military-service counterpart to ZIVI's civilian service. Operates in the adjacent military-domain branch of the Swiss federal administration and is the institutional counterpart whose conscription framework ZIVI's civilian alternative feeds into.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@zivicivi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zivi-civi
• Instagraminstagram.com/zivi_civi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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