Advice Needed: Employer Wants to Lower My Salary

My boss verbally offered me a salary of 4,500 CHF, and I accepted and signed the contract with this amount stated.

Today (2 months after starting my position), HR called me in and said my boss questioned why I’m getting 4,500 CHF and mentioned that I should be getting 4,300 CHF instead. Now they’re saying that the original contract was a mistake and are asking me to sign a new agreement stating the lower amount of 4,300 CHF. They also mentioned that they don’t even have the budget to pay me the 4,500 CHF.

This doesn’t feel right because I remember my boss clearly saying it was 4,500 CHF, and that’s why I agreed in the first place. (I also rejected another job with the same offer because of that…) I don’t understand why this is happening, and it’s left me feeling really confused and unsure what to do. They’re giving me two days to decide whether to accept the lower rate or get fired.

I don’t know if I should stay and look for something else, or refuse to accept and risk losing the job. I feel like both options are not very positive…

Any thoughts or advice would be really helpful!

Edit: Thanks for all the comments so far! Just to clarify some things: - I’m not on a trial period because I’ve been working at the company for over a year as a part-time-helper (Aushilfe). I asked for a full-time position, and they actually moved mountains to make that possible for me. - Because of my existing employment history, if they fire me now, I’m entitled to two months’ notice, which gives me a bit of time to look for a new job. (Which is also interesting because they gave me time until Monday which is the last day of September…) - Financially, I’ve saved enough money to survive for a few months even if I don’t find a new job right away, so I have a bit of a safety net. - In the past few weeks, I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback and compliments on my performance. This whole salary change caught me by surprise because I’ve been told I’m doing a great job, which makes this even more confusing and disappointing.

Edit 2: I am not sure if anyone will look at this anymore. There was a whole drama and suddenly it was alright for me to take another month to think. After that I declined the offer. I will start my new job in a few days. It’s bittersweet because I do like my colleagues and I do have a good bond with my bosses but it’s the best for me. Thank you for all the encouragement! 🤍✨