Though I don't live there, it can't be all bad considering the numbers below:
Switzerland's unemployment rate reached an average of 3.9 percent in 2010, the highest level for six years, the Swiss economy ministry said on Friday.
That compared with 3.7 percent in 2009.
"The situation on the jobs market eased thanks to a swifter and better than expected recovery," the ministry's secretariat (SECO) said in a statement
By the end of December 148,636 people were registered as unemployed, as the jobless rate grew by 0.2 percentage points to 3.8 percent for the month, having fallen back for much of the year with the end of the recession.
By comparison unemployment in the neighbouring eurozone reached a historic high of 10.1 percent of the working population by the end of October.
Average unemployment in Switzerland is expected to ease slightly to 3.4 percent in 2011 and 2012, according to data given Friday by the SECO.
A survey by employment agency Manpower last month found that 88 percent of 786 employers questioned in Switzerland did not plan to increase their staffing levels, while eight percent expected to increase their workforce.
Analysts at Moody's Economy cautioned that the improvement in the Swiss labour market would be dampened in the first half of 2011 as the recovery slows with weakening exports.
"Unemployment is expected to trend around current rates until mid-2011 before gradually falling," they said.
Oh, and they ran a 3B surplus this year (instead of a project 2.6B deficit) and their biggest problem is that the Swiss franc is so strong, it's keeping people away from the ski resorts....
Throw in 2 recent Pritzker winners, dozens of up and coming firms... yes, I've got some serious Swiss envy going right now. Anyone else?
St. George's Fields
Jan 13, 11 8:05 pm
Not really.
The Swiss aren't outwardly happy people. They're kind of emotionless. Not sure if it the neutrality or being "mountain people."
The cost of living is rapidly increasing. They're fairly car dependent and it's frigidly cold. A recent survey said about 50% of middle-class people in Switzerland are now living essentially paycheck to paycheck.
The Swiss are known to be quite stand-offish to 'outsiders.'
There's a growing complaint among many Swiss that foreigners are taking up low-wage and entry-level jobs that young people typically take up. While some might make this claim, the US doesn't really have that large of an immigration issue.
Foreign-born immigrants (legal and illegal) make up roughly 10% of the total U.S. population with the majority in CA, NY, FL, TX, IL, PA and NJ.
In Switzerland, the foreign-born population is over 20% perhaps even closer to 25%.
So, yes... while there is jobs there and a relatively stable economy-- that's not to say that their picture is not very much different from Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, Norway or even the UK.
Too low unemployment can actually be a bad thing. It causes hyperinflation, uncompetitive workforce due to high wages (which can lead to a very bad place very quickly) and little turnover for new entrants.
It can also mean that many people may not want to work there because of the limitation on jobs. There are people who would rather work crap jobs than assemble medical equipment or watches all day.
St. George's Fields
Jan 13, 11 8:07 pm
Also, anything outside of Zurich or Berne just plainly sucks from what I've heard.
It's a giant damp, cold and icy suburb basically. The people I know who've been to Switzerland said that for 9 months out of the year, you can't do anything and it feels like one giant haphazard American gated community.
dia
Jan 13, 11 8:13 pm
"The Swiss aren't outwardly happy people. They're kind of emotionless. Not sure if it the neutrality or being "mountain people."
Spurious. The Suisse I sit next to would disagree...
St. George's Fields
Jan 13, 11 10:24 pm
Aren't you in New Zealand?
maxpower
Jan 13, 11 11:20 pm
it's a great place. spent some months in a smaller town in valais. loved it and would move there in a heartbeat.
IamGray
Jan 14, 11 8:52 am
Uxibridge:
I wouldn't call Zürich my favourite city in the world, but I'd say it at least compares quite favourably to similarly sized American cities. The same could easily be said of Geneve, Basel, Bern, or Lausanne. Are there problems and issues? absolutely. But there's also some very good reasons that Schweiz cities regularly top quality of life rankings
And you can't do anything for 9 months of the year? If that's your (or your friends') feeling, may I suggest you never live in West/Central Europe, the British Isles, or Scandinavia (just forget about Canada and Russia!). Seriously, if cloudy days and temperatures under 20'C prevent you from leading a normal life, I don't really know what to say. I guess there's always Palm Springs?
Sorry, I'm getting a little silly. But so was most of your criticism of Switzerland, especially considering you've (quite evidently) never been there.
hp-new
Jul 5, 18 2:39 pm
!!!! Best response
huh
Jan 14, 11 10:11 am
switzerland is basically an exclusive gentleman's club - it's not easy to gain admission, but once you're in, you're in.
dia
Jan 14, 11 2:14 pm
Ah, yeah. Suisse people have been known to travel and broaden their minds...
St. George's Fields
Jan 14, 11 2:33 pm
I was more or less attacking this because the OP (if American) probably has the mindset that Switzerland is some "white fantasyland where everyone has a job and life is great."
Like Connecticut.
My two friends (one's German, the other Austrian) despise Switzerland. Other than the things they've said above... They've both said it's boring and expensive once you get past the views of the mountains.
Gregory Walker
Jan 14, 11 3:13 pm
Uxbridge - I am indeed an American. Funny how you can read minds - you ought to try one of those shows on NBC. Read Sharon Osbourne's mind - that would be worth its weight in gold...
No, I'm merely a former tourist, a fan of certain Swiss architects, and someone who's trying to look at the tea leaves to figure out where work may be better for people who need to be looking. A low long term debt, yearly surpluses, a low unemployment rate, and a reputation for high(er) quality and expectations... I'm just saying there's worse countries to be in.
If it's not for you, great. Don't go.
Phillip Crosby
Jan 14, 11 3:19 pm
I have a friend who was offered a job at a small landscape architecture firm in Switzerland but wasn't able to take it because he wasn't able to get a work permit. They had already reached their quota of architects/landscape architects for the year or something like that.
ozzie62
Jan 17, 11 1:02 pm
Greg Walker,
I took two semesters in the Ticino canton of Switzerland (near Lugano) in the late 80's when SCIarc had a studio there. Most of the year, Ticino is not damp, cold and icy. The winters certainly were, but the rest of the year was wonderful. It is the Italian portion of Switzerland, and the people are warm and outgoing. And the architecture community was, at that time anyway, very vibrant and very exciting. I completely fell in love with it and wanted to move there and work forever. I also had Swiss envy.
However, although they are very hospitable to visitors, as Uxbridge said,
they don't particularly like foreigners entering their workforce. It's about the best place for an extended visit, but I think it would be difficult to live there.
Evan Chakroff
Jan 18, 11 12:32 am
funny, when I worked in Basel for a year it was pleasant and sunny most days - I don't think it dropped below freezing more than 2 or 3 weeks of the year, and the summer highs were a breezy 20 degrees C or so. The swiss were in general a little cold, but there were plenty of friendly expats around, and nearly everyone could communicate in english. Cost of living wasn't bad at all - rent was a bit high but not as bad as larger cities in Europe, and groceries/transport (esp. rail w/ the half-price resident pass) were reasonable. Bars and restaurants were a bit pricey.
Zurich seemed like a cold, grey, industrial nightmare to me, but I really enjoyed my time in Basel, and traveling through the alps, swimming in Lugano, etc etc.
Great place overall. I'd definitely move back if I had a good opportunity.
French
Jan 18, 11 5:11 am
Maybe it's the right time to remind everyone that the swiss hav now one of the most hardcore right wing/ xenophobic party of Europe inside their government. The reason why? Too much foreigners working in their country for their taste, using public aid, not working enough and the rest of the fascist stupid arguments that you can get from such political views. They also have banned the construction of minarets (not sure of the English translation).
I have many swiss friends, all of them are great and generous people, but apparently that's not the case for most people inside the country. So unless you already come with your own money and you are pure white, don't think about going to work there.
IamGray
Jan 18, 11 11:13 am
Wow.... increasing popularity of right wing / conservative / populist politicians and parties, rising anti-islamist sentiment, and general mistrust of foreigners/immigrants. That could easily describe huge portions of USA, Canada, Australia, or the UK as well (not to mention far worse offenders IMO France or Italy).
Sorry. I don't intend to be such a swiss apologist, but some of these statements are simply hyperbolically ridiculous. "unless you already come with your own money and you are pure white, don't think about going to work there".
...Is that what your friends tell you?
usernametaken
Jan 18, 11 11:39 am
In itself, Switzerland is quite a nice place. True, the people can be a bit narrow-minded and not quite so outgoing, but, as everywhere: there are plenty of nice people around. Plus, it has a strong economy. Plus, the scenery is marvellous. Plus, in general, people are very receptive to good design and architecture. Plus, even though life is expensive there, salaries are up to par, too.
Some downparts: most job openings I've seen demand either a swiss degree (from the ETH or EPFL), or experience in Switzerland. It's not quite inviting for those who come freshly from abroad. Oh, and you might have to leave the country rather rapidly if you'd happen to lose your job...
Gregory Walker
Jan 18, 11 12:10 pm
For those of you who live there (or have): what are the barriers to opening up an office there? Chad Oppenheim (as one example) has opened a branch office in Basel - I'm assuming this could be done with a Swiss national as the official 'head' of the company, but does the system inherently exclude people setting something up?
(oh and the Swiss have to be quite happy they didn't join the EU currency experiment...)
St. George's Fields
Jan 18, 11 1:58 pm
EU currency experiment.
Oh God. Please stop fanning these flames.
It's easy to have a warm fuzzy bordering-on-libertarian country when your country is subsidized by money laundering while being protected by the Pope.
Switzerland is a hot girl that is out of my league.
I would agree with most people here. It's a very well-kept, rich country. You would have to look hard to find any garbage on its streets. Public transportation is hands down the best of any of the European countries I've visited. A friend did suggest I take a look at working there since our economy is so crappy here but I don't think I would ever fit in.
There are a few things you would need to get by there: First, it's expensive, the cost of going out for an average night in town will cost you 2-3 times what you would be paying in Manhattan. As someone who is still young, I found there wasn't much to do there at night but squander on overprice drinks. Second, as someone mentioned earlier, it is a great place if you feel like you belong there - among the very rich and very white; but being neither, I can only see myself as a visitor. Third, not being able to speak a at French, German, and Italian, or a two of the three languages could present a problem for anyone considering living there. Most of the people I've met there could speak at least a dozen languages and it's rare that English is used unless there is a tourist around...
saptamy
Jul 5, 18 2:22 pm
What would be the scenario for a 21year old, 4th year, B.Arch student to get an internship in Basel...do i need a work permit for that? Also if i would want to work only for 5-6 months instead of a year, will it be feasible? Or it varies from firm to firm?
Though I don't live there, it can't be all bad considering the numbers below:
Switzerland's unemployment rate reached an average of 3.9 percent in 2010, the highest level for six years, the Swiss economy ministry said on Friday.
That compared with 3.7 percent in 2009.
"The situation on the jobs market eased thanks to a swifter and better than expected recovery," the ministry's secretariat (SECO) said in a statement
By the end of December 148,636 people were registered as unemployed, as the jobless rate grew by 0.2 percentage points to 3.8 percent for the month, having fallen back for much of the year with the end of the recession.
By comparison unemployment in the neighbouring eurozone reached a historic high of 10.1 percent of the working population by the end of October.
Average unemployment in Switzerland is expected to ease slightly to 3.4 percent in 2011 and 2012, according to data given Friday by the SECO.
A survey by employment agency Manpower last month found that 88 percent of 786 employers questioned in Switzerland did not plan to increase their staffing levels, while eight percent expected to increase their workforce.
Analysts at Moody's Economy cautioned that the improvement in the Swiss labour market would be dampened in the first half of 2011 as the recovery slows with weakening exports.
"Unemployment is expected to trend around current rates until mid-2011 before gradually falling," they said.
Oh, and they ran a 3B surplus this year (instead of a project 2.6B deficit) and their biggest problem is that the Swiss franc is so strong, it's keeping people away from the ski resorts....
Throw in 2 recent Pritzker winners, dozens of up and coming firms... yes, I've got some serious Swiss envy going right now. Anyone else?
Not really.
The Swiss aren't outwardly happy people. They're kind of emotionless. Not sure if it the neutrality or being "mountain people."
The cost of living is rapidly increasing. They're fairly car dependent and it's frigidly cold. A recent survey said about 50% of middle-class people in Switzerland are now living essentially paycheck to paycheck.
The Swiss are known to be quite stand-offish to 'outsiders.'
There's a growing complaint among many Swiss that foreigners are taking up low-wage and entry-level jobs that young people typically take up. While some might make this claim, the US doesn't really have that large of an immigration issue.
Foreign-born immigrants (legal and illegal) make up roughly 10% of the total U.S. population with the majority in CA, NY, FL, TX, IL, PA and NJ.
In Switzerland, the foreign-born population is over 20% perhaps even closer to 25%.
So, yes... while there is jobs there and a relatively stable economy-- that's not to say that their picture is not very much different from Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, Norway or even the UK.
Too low unemployment can actually be a bad thing. It causes hyperinflation, uncompetitive workforce due to high wages (which can lead to a very bad place very quickly) and little turnover for new entrants.
It can also mean that many people may not want to work there because of the limitation on jobs. There are people who would rather work crap jobs than assemble medical equipment or watches all day.
Also, anything outside of Zurich or Berne just plainly sucks from what I've heard.
It's a giant damp, cold and icy suburb basically. The people I know who've been to Switzerland said that for 9 months out of the year, you can't do anything and it feels like one giant haphazard American gated community.
Spurious. The Suisse I sit next to would disagree...
Aren't you in New Zealand?
it's a great place. spent some months in a smaller town in valais. loved it and would move there in a heartbeat.
Uxibridge:
I wouldn't call Zürich my favourite city in the world, but I'd say it at least compares quite favourably to similarly sized American cities. The same could easily be said of Geneve, Basel, Bern, or Lausanne. Are there problems and issues? absolutely. But there's also some very good reasons that Schweiz cities regularly top quality of life rankings
And you can't do anything for 9 months of the year? If that's your (or your friends') feeling, may I suggest you never live in West/Central Europe, the British Isles, or Scandinavia (just forget about Canada and Russia!). Seriously, if cloudy days and temperatures under 20'C prevent you from leading a normal life, I don't really know what to say. I guess there's always Palm Springs?
Sorry, I'm getting a little silly. But so was most of your criticism of Switzerland, especially considering you've (quite evidently) never been there.
!!!! Best response
switzerland is basically an exclusive gentleman's club - it's not easy to gain admission, but once you're in, you're in.
Ah, yeah. Suisse people have been known to travel and broaden their minds...
I was more or less attacking this because the OP (if American) probably has the mindset that Switzerland is some "white fantasyland where everyone has a job and life is great."
Like Connecticut.
My two friends (one's German, the other Austrian) despise Switzerland. Other than the things they've said above... They've both said it's boring and expensive once you get past the views of the mountains.
Uxbridge - I am indeed an American. Funny how you can read minds - you ought to try one of those shows on NBC. Read Sharon Osbourne's mind - that would be worth its weight in gold...
No, I'm merely a former tourist, a fan of certain Swiss architects, and someone who's trying to look at the tea leaves to figure out where work may be better for people who need to be looking. A low long term debt, yearly surpluses, a low unemployment rate, and a reputation for high(er) quality and expectations... I'm just saying there's worse countries to be in.
If it's not for you, great. Don't go.
I have a friend who was offered a job at a small landscape architecture firm in Switzerland but wasn't able to take it because he wasn't able to get a work permit. They had already reached their quota of architects/landscape architects for the year or something like that.
Greg Walker,
I took two semesters in the Ticino canton of Switzerland (near Lugano) in the late 80's when SCIarc had a studio there. Most of the year, Ticino is not damp, cold and icy. The winters certainly were, but the rest of the year was wonderful. It is the Italian portion of Switzerland, and the people are warm and outgoing. And the architecture community was, at that time anyway, very vibrant and very exciting. I completely fell in love with it and wanted to move there and work forever. I also had Swiss envy.
However, although they are very hospitable to visitors, as Uxbridge said,
they don't particularly like foreigners entering their workforce. It's about the best place for an extended visit, but I think it would be difficult to live there.
funny, when I worked in Basel for a year it was pleasant and sunny most days - I don't think it dropped below freezing more than 2 or 3 weeks of the year, and the summer highs were a breezy 20 degrees C or so. The swiss were in general a little cold, but there were plenty of friendly expats around, and nearly everyone could communicate in english. Cost of living wasn't bad at all - rent was a bit high but not as bad as larger cities in Europe, and groceries/transport (esp. rail w/ the half-price resident pass) were reasonable. Bars and restaurants were a bit pricey.
Zurich seemed like a cold, grey, industrial nightmare to me, but I really enjoyed my time in Basel, and traveling through the alps, swimming in Lugano, etc etc.
Great place overall. I'd definitely move back if I had a good opportunity.
Maybe it's the right time to remind everyone that the swiss hav now one of the most hardcore right wing/ xenophobic party of Europe inside their government. The reason why? Too much foreigners working in their country for their taste, using public aid, not working enough and the rest of the fascist stupid arguments that you can get from such political views. They also have banned the construction of minarets (not sure of the English translation).
I have many swiss friends, all of them are great and generous people, but apparently that's not the case for most people inside the country. So unless you already come with your own money and you are pure white, don't think about going to work there.
Wow.... increasing popularity of right wing / conservative / populist politicians and parties, rising anti-islamist sentiment, and general mistrust of foreigners/immigrants. That could easily describe huge portions of USA, Canada, Australia, or the UK as well (not to mention far worse offenders IMO France or Italy).
Sorry. I don't intend to be such a swiss apologist, but some of these statements are simply hyperbolically ridiculous. "unless you already come with your own money and you are pure white, don't think about going to work there".
...Is that what your friends tell you?
In itself, Switzerland is quite a nice place. True, the people can be a bit narrow-minded and not quite so outgoing, but, as everywhere: there are plenty of nice people around. Plus, it has a strong economy. Plus, the scenery is marvellous. Plus, in general, people are very receptive to good design and architecture. Plus, even though life is expensive there, salaries are up to par, too.
Some downparts: most job openings I've seen demand either a swiss degree (from the ETH or EPFL), or experience in Switzerland. It's not quite inviting for those who come freshly from abroad. Oh, and you might have to leave the country rather rapidly if you'd happen to lose your job...
For those of you who live there (or have): what are the barriers to opening up an office there? Chad Oppenheim (as one example) has opened a branch office in Basel - I'm assuming this could be done with a Swiss national as the official 'head' of the company, but does the system inherently exclude people setting something up?
(oh and the Swiss have to be quite happy they didn't join the EU currency experiment...)
Oh God. Please stop fanning these flames.
It's easy to have a warm fuzzy bordering-on-libertarian country when your country is subsidized by money laundering while being protected by the Pope.
Switzerland is a hot girl that is out of my league.
I would agree with most people here. It's a very well-kept, rich country. You would have to look hard to find any garbage on its streets. Public transportation is hands down the best of any of the European countries I've visited. A friend did suggest I take a look at working there since our economy is so crappy here but I don't think I would ever fit in.
There are a few things you would need to get by there: First, it's expensive, the cost of going out for an average night in town will cost you 2-3 times what you would be paying in Manhattan. As someone who is still young, I found there wasn't much to do there at night but squander on overprice drinks. Second, as someone mentioned earlier, it is a great place if you feel like you belong there - among the very rich and very white; but being neither, I can only see myself as a visitor. Third, not being able to speak a at French, German, and Italian, or a two of the three languages could present a problem for anyone considering living there. Most of the people I've met there could speak at least a dozen languages and it's rare that English is used unless there is a tourist around...
What would be the scenario for a 21year old, 4th year, B.Arch student to get an internship in Basel...do i need a work permit for that? Also if i would want to work only for 5-6 months instead of a year, will it be feasible? Or it varies from firm to firm?