Luc Defferrard
Switzerland regularly leads international rankings as a location for highly qualified employees and is consistently one of the most sought-after work destinations. Expatriates enjoy an exceptionally high quality of life, personal safety, considerable social benefits, and substantial salaries.
With some of the most liberal labor laws globally, Switzerland is also an attractive location for employers. The labor market’s flexibility facilitates a company to employ or dismiss staff as required with short notice, and termination indemnities are low compared with other European countries. Thanks to this flexibility, the nation has met corporations’ fluctuating requirements, while developing and employing healthy, educated, and competent workers.
According to Luc Defferrard, Managing Partner of Walder Wyss, the largest Swiss law firm by number of employees, “One of the core pillars supporting Switzerland’s ambitions to grow as an international base for innovative global corporations has been its human capital. The Swiss are hard workers, but they intuitively seek foreign talent to fill gaps if expertise is not locally available. Switzerland’s ability to attract highly knowledgeable foreign talent has helped the nation further its ambitions of developing innovative products. Such global talent has enabled local companies to market themselves internationally. Utilizing a Swiss tax advantage is no longer a motivation for American companies with Swiss operations. They instead seek to capitalize on the ecosystem to develop high-tech oriented research operations. An added benefit has been the geographical parity in human capital; qualified labor is found by corporations within every valley and every Canton. This enabled leading corporations to establish roots throughout any region of Switzerland. Walder Wyss strives to be close to its globally minded clients, whether large or small, and we have established one of the broadest footprints in Switzerland of any law firm. We are regionally diversified with offices in Zurich, Geneva, Lausanne, Bern, Basel, and Lugano.”
“Switzerland’s ability to attract highly knowledgeable foreign talent has helped the nation further its ambitions”
Although Swiss salaries are high, strikes are rare, and in terms of gross domestic product per hour worked, Switzerland comes out as one of the world’s most productive countries, making the Swiss workforce one of the most productive workforces in the world. The combination of high productivity, modest taxes, and low capital costs results in employers fiscally saving by relocating to Switzerland.