Switzerland is an amazing country that offers great opportunities for work as well for living. It is a country with great treasures that you are not necessary aware of. Did you ever think about moving in? Well, the following points might motivate you to do so. Here are our 5 reasons for why you should live in Switzerland.
Reason number 1: a more natural life
One of the striking aspects of living in Switzerland is the closeness with nature. Basically withing 30mn you can go from a city center like Zürich or Geneva to the middle of the countryside or to a top of a mountain.
The beauty of Switzerland landscapes will seduce more than one. You experience life differently like if you were always on holidays. You rediscover the rhythm of seasons. Every season is marked by different weather, temperatures, colors and smells. You tend to buy more “local” so you rediscover the taste of good things from the garden. Basically you do not necessary eat the same calibered, untasteful red tomato all year long and suddenly you are happy with that. You get more connected to what you smell, taste, touch… Well, you connect better with life. Is it all about lakes and mountains? Well, there are also green meadows with a lovely countryside. And aside of that, yes, there are a lot of mountains and lakes.
The closeness with nature makes you more relaxed and also help you to better organize your life. You get better into shape as well… As long you go easy with the cheese fondue, raclette and other mountaineering specials.
Here are 3 spots you need to visit if you come to Switzerland, no matter if it is for a long weekend or a lifetime experience.
Zermatt, the Matterhorn and the Glacier Express
If you want to experience the true beauty of the Swiss Alps, you need to visit Zermatt, the Matterhorn mountain(4’478m) region and then take the Glacier Express train from Zermatt to St Moritz. You will discover an amazing region sharped by eternal glaciers, majestic mountains and warm-hearted villages. From Zermatt, you can take a small train and climb up to 3’100m to Gornergrat where you can find an amazing sight seing over the Matterhorn and a Victorinox Swiss Army shop.
Interlaken and the Jungfrau
The Interlaken region has seduced nature fans since the 19th century when people would seek a closer contact with nature as well as a healthier environment. The Jungfrau mountain reaches 4’158m and thanks to a mountain train, you can almost reach the top. It is an amazing experience. With good weather you can see all of Switzerland in one snapshot. If you are looking for a nice hotel to visit this region, check out our review here.
The Leman Riviera, from cosmopolitan Geneva to Jazzy Montreux
The Leman riviera is the region going from Geneva through Lausanne and continuing up to Montreux. It is a marvelous area dominated by the Leman Lake or Lake Geneva. With a total surface of 581km2, it is one of the biggest lakes in Europe and by far the biggest Alpine lake. Thanks to the lake, the winter temperatures are never too cold and summer is always fresher. From the Lavaux vineyards to an amazing MontBlanc sight-seeing, you can enjoy an amazing scenery every day. You can find the best hotels around the Leman Lake in our useful guide. Just click here.
Reason number 2: a better balance in your life
The second reason why you should seriously think to moving to Switzerland is the accomplishment of a better balance in your life. The way things are organized in Switzerland helps to have a better life. You start your days early than in other countries but you can finish your work early as well, so you have more time for sports, walking, taking care of your children or basically do all the things you are supposed to do only on weekends by lack of time.
City structures are also very adapted to children, so you will not feel handicapped because you have a baby-buggy for example. There are a lot of cultural life going on. From national museums, to private organizations, galleries and ateliers, you will be able to attend to art exhibitions you would never see of that quality abroad.
Because of all these, Swiss life is not stressful and so people tend to be more relaxed in general which brings a certain coolness to the country. Naturally, many things tend to remain the same. Well we do not need to change something we believe is right. Or if any change is required, taking the time for that change to happen is more like a quality of respect.
Reason number 3: Job opportunities and a calm booming economy
Switzerland business life is like the lake, we like it when it is calm without too much waves. That is how business is generally like in Switzerland. Switzerland rather prefer to have between 1 to 5% every year rather than jumping around on a double digit growth that might not be sustainable in time.
Business partnerships tend to last for a long time and loyalty in business is a quality that anyone in Switzerland would admire.
There are also several professional opportunities in Switzerland. Many international brands are settled in Switzerland. Some of them have their worldwide HQ in the country, others have their European offices and most possess local interesting businesses. Switzerland is a small market but generally has a high penetration rate in certain industries. Pharmaceuticals, watch-making, food and beverage industries or banks will provide amazing job opportunities. Here are some of the amazing brands you could work for in Switzerland:
- Nestlé
- Nespresso
- Swatch Group
- Novartis
- Roche
- Richemont Group
- Kuoni
- Rolex
- Tamoil
- Logitech
- Triumph
- Oettinger Davidoff
- Lindt & Sprüngli
- Givaudan
- Firmenich
- Bobst
- United Nations
- FIFA
- UEFA
- FIBA
- CERN
- World Economic Forum
- Philip Morris International
- The British Tobacco Company
Of course all the big banks and insurances are in Switzerland. So as you can see there are loads of opportunities. There are currently 141’131 people unemployed in Switzerland. The unemployment rate is at 3.3%, a record in Europe when you see how bad is France, Spain, Germany or even the UK. Swiss salaries are a great temptation as generally they are much higher than in other countries. Nevertheless, living in Switzerland has also a very high cost, so you better do your calculations if you wish to enjoy the beautiful Swiss life.
Reason number 4: International meet local, an unique experience
Switzerland is considered as a small Europe on its own. There are 4 official languages: German, French, Italian and Romansch. If you dig an extra layer, you realize it is not only German, it is Swiss German. And each village in the German-speaking area has its own version of Swiss-German.
Since 2012, the foreign population, resident in Switzerland, crossed the mark of 23%. Total population today is 8.2 million inhabitants. This means there is almost 2 million foreigners living in Switzerland. Most of them are from European Union (64%): Germans, French, Portuguese, Italian and Spanish. Due to political alliances, Switzerland is also a land for political refugees, so there is an important community of people from war areas: Serbia, Tamil or Turkish. So all these people from different cultures and backgrounds live together. Because of that, English became a sort of 5th (non)official language in the country.
Reason number 5: Switzerland is the king of transports
If you already live in Switzerland or came at least once to the country, you will be stroke by the high efficiency of public transport. Trains are something amazing in this country. Switzerland has the most dense railway network in the world. Basically you can go to everywhere in the country from anywhere. Public transport will even take you to top of mountains thanks to the mountain trains and the Postal buses.
Switzerland has general subscriptions that allow you to take any transport means (bus, train, boat, cable-cars). It is an unique system. As being a modern country, they have developed a mobile App that allow you to check train schedules, book your journey and buy online your tickets. You can present your mobile phone to the controller and he will scan a QR code directly from your smartphone screen. Swiss public transports are in general always on time. If there is a problem with the train, no worries, they will find you another train and get you to destination with a minimum delay. So things work in Switzerland.
Based on the above points, Switzerland represent an amazing land to live in. A country with no weird diseases, no natural catastrophes, no crazy politics and a certain idea of individual respect… It is a rare thing in this world. So yes there are amazing opportunities for you in Switzerland.
If you wish to explore more, you can visit the following recommended websites that will give you a pretty good impression of how things in the country.
MySwitzerland
http://www.myswitzerland.com
Federal Administration
https://www.admin.ch
Working in Switzerland
https://www.ch.ch/en/work-switzerland-foreign-national/
http://www.swissinfo.ch
You just need to make it happen. Basically, it is up to you!
Info sourced at the websites above, wikipedia, Le Temps, Bilan and the Hebdo. Pictures for illustration purposes sourced at touristmaker.com and skiingthealps.com.
