30 years of profawo
Filled with joy and pride, we look back on three decades of dedicated work and accompaniment. Thirty years ago, young parents and members of the Young Chamber of Commerce faced a challenge: there were not enough daycare places for working parents. This need gave life to the Childcare Service association and, with it, our first daycare centre in Zurich. It was this courageous step taken by these parents, together with their respective employers (and our founding members), that laid the foundation for what is now profawo.
For us, this anniversary is more than just a retrospective. It is a moment of gratitude to all our partners, customers, employees and the families who place their trust in us. At the same time, it is a look ahead: to new paths, modern solutions and a future in which work-life balance becomes a given.
We are delighted to look back on 30 years of dedication – and at the same time look forward to shaping the next chapters. After all, one thing remains unchanged: profawo promotes the compatibility of family and career.
profawo facts
We have been moving for 30 years
1996
UBS, Swiss pension fund and Swiss Life were our first members. Today, we have over 200 corporate members in our association.
1997
First nanny placements
2000
Establishment of Childcare Service Basel
2001
2002
2003
Opening of kids & co Viktoriastrasse in Bern
Development of the offer of a holiday programme
2005
Opening of our office in Geneva
Takeover of the Swiss Post's company daycare centre as kids & co Hardau in Zurich
2007
2008
2010
2012
Opening of kids & co Gümligen, kids & co La Source and kids & co Campus PH Zurich
Introduction to family care (care & co)
2013
Childcare Service becomes profawo
2014
Opening of kids & co Wankdorf in Bern and kids & co Letzibach in Zurich
2015
2017
2019
Reopening of kids & co City, the public company daycare centre run by Education First
Opening of kids & co Europaallee
profawo Basel becomes independent
New partnership with Familea as a childcare provider in Basel
2020
2021
Expansion of 24/7 nanny and emergency nanny placement via web app
Start of collaboration with PH Thurgau and quality development in the area of interaction quality
2022
2023
Merger of the three associations into one nationwide association
Start of cooperation with the Federal Office for Gender Equality in the area of care & co
Opening of the kids & co Eglantine daycare centre
2024
2025
Opening of the first daycare centre in the canton of Aargau: kids & co RPB in Baden
Relocation of the Geneva office to Lausanne
2026
Review by Sandra Gurtner-Oesch (Co-Managing Director)
«A 30th anniversary always makes you pause for thought. When I look back on the history of profawo, I see an organisation that has been courageous from the very beginning: founded in 1996 by members of Junior Chamber International Zurich, then still called Childcare Services, and created out of necessity due to a shortage of daycare places.
However, it quickly developed into a formative collaboration with employers, which to this day gives us a close connection to a genuine need of employees. It soon became clear that this one daycare center was only a small first step with a big impact.
Just a few years later, new locations followed: first in Zurich and later with a focus on Basel and Bern. Having broken through the language barrier, we launched a service in Biel, followed by a collaboration above Vevey.
Read more
Each region had its own needs, and it is precisely this diversity that still characterises us today. We did not grow quickly. We continuously developed our offering in close consultation with our member companies. Over the years, companies, families and employees placed their trust in us, which the organisation has earned through hard work and many educational developments.
At the same time as developing our network of daycare centres throughout Switzerland, we soon began to expand our range of services to include short-term childcare, including in emergencies, and childcare during school holidays. In these areas, too, we focus on quality and partnership-based cooperation, whether it be with companies or local authorities.
By taking the step in 2012 to provide care for relatives, profawo has succeeded in thinking beyond childcare when it comes to balancing family and career, and offering support that is more in line with the reality of many employees' lives. This was a response to social changes that were becoming apparent at the time and are now more relevant than ever.
And how many people we have accompanied over all these years: children, parents, caring relatives and companies. Wonderful!
At profawo, I personally find fulfilment in the wonderful combination of cheerful camaraderie and the absolute determination to find solutions. Many colleagues have helped shape this organisation over the years, sharing their knowledge and passion and driving innovation. In doing so, they have made profawo what it is today: a lively, versatile and reliable partner for all aspects of balancing family and career.
For me, 30 years of profawo mean one thing above all else: a history full of meaning, courage and a future that I look forward to."
Cornelia Peltenburg's vision (Co-Managing Director)
When I look into the future, I see profawo as a reliable partner for work-life balance in Switzerland, far beyond childcare. The challenges of our working and living environments are becoming more complex: family structures are changing, care work is increasing, and skills shortages as well as demographic changes are challenging companies and society alike.
Our vision is to create solutions in this very area of tension that empower people and make organisations fit for the future. This includes thinking about work-life balance holistically: as an interplay between childcare, caring for relatives, health, working models and social participation.
Read more
profawo has stood for quality, reliability and innovation since the first daycare centres were established in the mid-1990s, right up to today's support for family carers. And it is precisely this attitude that we want to carry forward: we listen, we continue to develop, we respond quickly to social changes and put new ideas into practice.
My vision is a Switzerland in which work-life balance is no longer an individual challenge, but a shared promise: from employers, organisations, politicians and society. profawo will continue to be an active part of this future in the coming decades, as a partner, a source of inspiration and an organisation that puts people at the centre of everything it does."