Q&A with Megan about the Swiss IT market

Please introduce yourself. 

My name is Megan McGuirk, I am a specialist consultant for the Swiss Market here at Halian based out of the London office. I work on a wide range of opportunities across Switzerland, including the German, French, and Italian speaking markets.

 

What’s interesting about the Swiss market?

What I enjoy about working in the Swiss market is the diversity of opportunities and of people in Switzerland. Switzerland is a multicultural tech hub, especially in cities such as Zurich and Lausanne, where collaboration and communication is key. The Swiss market is very unique, because there are always a wide range of English speaking opportunities across all major cities, despite English not being one of Switzerland’s four official languages.

 

What are the key trends in the Swiss market?

The Swiss market is shifting towards Cloud Technology rapidly. Demand for engineers with experience working on the major Cloud Platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) is increasing month to month. Similar to this, experience with microservices and containers is in high demand – especially Kubernetes.

 

What are the latest developments in Switzerland’s FinTech market?

FinTech has always been a big market in Switzerland, however the trends are shifting towards a focus on blockchain and CryptoCurrency. In fact, CryptoCurrency such as Bitcoin, has become so popular that the canton of Zug has this year started accepting tax payments in bitcoin or ether. This is in keeping with Switzerland’s reputation as a tech leader and innovator.

 

What are the benefits of working in Switzerland?

The benefits of working in Switzerland include higher average salaries than anywhere else in Europe – although a coffee will set you back almost twice as much in Zurich as it would in London! Low tax is also a major perk, as well as the opportunity to live and work in diverse cities with easy access to the ski slopes, breathtaking hikes, and stunning lakes. Switzerland is definitely a country for people who love the outdoors. For families, Switzerland also offers fantastic education all the way through from kindergarten to world leading universities.

 

How easy is it to relocate to Switzerland? Any advice?

IT professional’s holding EU citizenship will find relocation to Switzerland relatively straightforward. EU citizens are welcome to live and work in Switzerland providing they are employed within a Swiss business, or can prove they are able to support themselves financially by other means. Due Switzerland’s tech hub reputation, there are a lot of relocators living in Switzerland; there is an active and vibrant tech community made up of EU citizens arranging meetups and events. Before moving to Switzerland it is important to research the cost of living as it varies massively between cantons (which also have different tax brackets!) and make sure you have a clear idea of what you will be spending. The property market is competitive and rent can be high, however, if you are open to living outside of the major cities and commuting in (the trains are incredibly efficient and the views can be stunning too), then you can save a considerable amount on rent in more suburban areas.

Thank you Megan!