well the boring, tedious positions are not really what people are after. I realize after reading several threads that the people married to a Swiss have the permit to work but then have a not so easy time coming in and doing the search. In some ways they are stuck in a market which is not so dynamic as Gav said.

Best to get recruited from outside for sure. At least one has some local experience right away and there is some hope even if the job does not last a very long time. The basic problem though is that the companies tend to be very very risk averse and do not assess the dynamism or passion of the candidate. Very different from US.