Switzerland's employment rate ranked the second in all European Union (EU)/ European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries in the past decade, official figures showed on Tuesday.

According to the statistics from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, which covered population group aged between 15 to 64 years old, the country's employment rate rose from 81.2 percent in 2001 to 82.8 percent in 2011.

Only Iceland has a higher employment rate of 84.5 percent. In comparison, the EU's 27 members have an average employment rate of 71.2 percent in 2011.

While employment rate is high in Switzerland, working part-time is also prevalent, with 33.9 percent of the employed worked part-time in 2011, second only to the Netherlands, and way above the EU average of 19.5 percent.

For Swiss families, working part-time has become the norm among mothers, but remains exceptional among fathers.

Another trend in Swiss labor market is delayed retirement. Over the past 10 years, the average age of withdrawal from the labor market has remained close to 65 years, and the number of economically active senior persons has been steadily increasing.