A switching device includes an operation lever 10 capable of being turned in a first direction and in a second direction with respect to a neutral position P0, a first switch SW11 to detect a condition when the operation lever is moved to a first operation position P11, a second switch SW21 to detect a condition when the operation lever 10 is moved to a second operation position P21 symmetric to the first operation position, and a control unit 110 to control a multistage function in a stepwise manner to switch operating states in a stepwise manner such that the condition of control of the multistage function is switched up in a stepwise manner based on a condition detected by the first switch and such that the condition of control of the multistage function is switched down in a stepwise manner based on a condition detected by the second switch. The upper and lower operation positions P11, P21 are symmetric so that it becomes easier to have common components.