I'm just curious why there are so many Americans moving to Switzerland? What could an American possibly want there? The best job market in the world is in the US. Who'd want to go to a place where it takes years to find a job? Why abandon everything and go across the Atlantic?

The same question to the British. I'm under impression there are more of those than of the native locals in Switzerland. From what I heard the London is a great place to work as well. Why move so far away and again to hunt a job for years?

(I know we're on English forum but that's not the only source of my impression)

If the facts challenge your beliefs, it's time to rethink.

Maybe people don't come here for the 'job market'' at large. (I know I didn't.)

We don't all move for work reasons, you know.

People don't usually just move and then look for a job, unless they move here for other reasons than a job. How long it takes to get a job depends on many things, education, family situation, what job one needs, etc. And no, there certainly are not more foreigners than local inhabitants.

There's also this:



vs this:

OP: what do you have against Switzerland? You don't even live here and this isn't your first thread of this kind....

homeopathy ahem

I didn't move for work.

This is easy to answer (and I don't understand why you can't work it out for yourself; are you a bit simple?).

Most expats here either (1) got a job before they arrived or (2) didn't come here because of job prospects.

I've got nothing against Switzerland, definitely not the last place to be in.

I'm just genuinely curious. I've been seeing endless questions from people desperately looking for a job for years - oh, funny, the last thread was from the guy with a nick name http://www.englishforum.ch/members/78153-desperate.html, here it is Reaching the point of giving up

And I've been wondering - what keeps these people beating the dead horse? It's not like they're refugees from Africa - they're mostly Europeans already enjoying a comfortable life. With a EU-passport they can find work in their homeland or any other EU country within few weeks. They can have the same high quality life anywhere else - Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands etc. But they for some strange reason keep trying to get a job in Switzerland. Why on Earth do they lose the peace of mind and their sleep over it? There are better things to do with your life and there are multiple other options around. At least for the neighboring countries the cities, people, climate they are very similar so what's the difference anyway?

In addition, for English-only speakers Switzerland may be a bit tough. They are much better served in the Netherlands and Belgium. So why ignore all of the Europe and head directly to Switzerland?

You said yourself you have been reading posts here. Not sure how carefully, though, since the job market is very different to what is around, in neighboring countries. Starting with a pay check, to pace of life, work, requirements, etc. Some folks have partners here, some love the nature, some want to save up in a short time and buy a house elsewhere, some like the idea of multilingual culture, some like slow, quiet and relatively safe environment, some like the nostalgia that reminds them their own childhood, etc...if life was ever so easy as it superfitially seems. Quality of life means different things to different people, some obviously prefer the one you can get here.

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Its funny you mention the job market in the US being superior to Switzerland. I actually moved from the US to Switzerland to take a job because the job market in the US was stagnant. None of the job offers I received in the US could match the vacation time, the salary and the general quality of life Switzerland offers. My case may be atypical, so its more an observation.

However my decision to come to Switzerland was made easier for me because I was Swiss, had previously lived in Switzerland in the past and speak German and Swiss-German AND I work in Zurich. I would not have lightly considered moving to any other Swiss city.

It seems like you are curious about Switzerland because you may consider moving there in the future. If that is the case do yourself a favor and visit. You will not satisfy your curiosity by simply going on an online forum.

i'm not in switzerland yet, but i'm doing everything i can to get there. and it's not for the money. the job is just an instrument to sustain a normal daily life in switzerland. that is my opinion and i guess some people here in EF shares the same opinion.

You won`t believe me , but people also looking for jobs in Germany,France,Spain,Italy,Netherland,Hong Kong ,Lichtenstein ( I think)gee how many country are there on our planet BTW Even Canada

Swiss multinationals need English speaking professionals. The US has a huge pool of such, the UK is comfortably near. There's not that many natives, French, German, Spanish etc. that fit the bill. Most multinationals have a presence in the US, so it's easy to find people they "know", to bring over on secondment.

I came here as, compared with the UK, it has low crime, high standard of living, safe streets, low taxes and much better skiing.

I do beg to differ.. come on.. I get really peeved when a job desc. is published in the UK for a IT position in Switzerland and I get contacted by headhunters in the UK.... and the job is nowhere to be found here, on any job search engine.
Not true, lots of professionals fit the bill here, but communication is deplorable.

To quote the great American philosopher Puff Daddy "It's all about the Benjamin's Baby." My husbands employer took a contract in Zurich and offered the year long (maybe more) position to my husband. We took it after negotiating the entire package. We will keep our home in the US and live here exposing our daughter to a new culture. The Swiss company gets what they need which is my husbands expertise in the product they purchased. WIN/WIN Now instead of four day weekend trips around the US southwest, we take them in Switzerland, Italy and Germany. We are a very blessed family.

Well I've just moved the UK to Switzerland with my girlfriend of 4 years (she's Swiss). I don't know what you've read about the UK, but London (and the rest of the country) is going to hell. In the North where we lived, we were both working, but yet couldn't afford to live in a safe area and have a car.

I don't know why you think the USA has the best job market in the world? People are losing jobs left right and centre there.

In the UK I could only get an unskilled job for minimum wage because I'm a graduate who doesn't have 5 years work experience. I sent out hundreds of applications, didn't get one single interview from any position related to my degree. I had my CV looked at by professionals, as well as my covering letters and they said they were excellent, the problem is that companies there are just not hiring enough young people.

I've been here just over a month and already had 2 interviews.

Why else? The country is gorgeous. The places are clean (England is really not clean at all.), if you talk to someone at an office, they actually seem to know what they are doing 8/10, which is a massive step up from dealing with all the incompetent people who seem to work in the UK (especially in government offices, no one had a clue about anything they were supposed to be in charge of).

The attitude of people here is much better. In the UK the prevailing attitude is "if it takes effort, I can't be bothered" and that pretty much applies throughout the country.

But I think the most important reason is quality of life. In England, quality of life is mediocre at best and it is getting worse very quickly. It's so much better here.

Simples - I work to live, not live to work.

Quality of life here is very good. Quality of life I had/could have in Paris or London is not as good. What's so hard to understand? We're not all career maniacs!

I didn't come here for work. I came here for life. Work just happens to be a means of supporting that life.