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Switzerland is the world’s most competitive economy

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171–180 of 243 posts

Re: Switzerland is the world’s most competitive economy

#171

I have a few questions for Swiss expats. Could you tell me about the Swiss culture--at bit? I know it's a huge topic. Just some of the differences you see between the Swiss, and say Americans. I mainly interested in the Millenials. What do they think of Americans? Do they basically have the same hobbies? Are their any stark differences in what they value? Do they view Americans as spoiled? Do they fear us? This next…

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Re: Switzerland is the world’s most competitive economy

#172
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ok, why all the high tech industries that come to my mind are based in SV, UK, SE Asia, Japan but I can't thing of anything in Switzerland? Honestly it is the first time in my life that I hear the association computer science - Switzerland..

> Honestly it is the first time in my life that I hear the association computer science - Switzerland.. Some names you might recognize: * Niklaus Wirth (Pascal, Modula-II, Oberon etc.; retired professor at ETHZ) * Jurg Gutknecht (Oberon; EHTZ) * Erich Gamma (one of the "Gang of Four" behind the Design Patterns book; co-wrote JUnit; studied at University of Zurich) * Urs Hölzle (Google SVP of Technical Infrastructure…

I was clearly speaking about companies. In uk there is (was until one month ago) Arm holdings, in Silicon Valley I guess you should know, Samsung should be quite famous in the world, Sony and all the other Japanese companies the same. Which big software/hardware company famous in all the world I'm missing in Switzerland?

Re: Switzerland is the world’s most competitive economy

#173
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ok, why all the high tech industries that come to my mind are based in SV, UK, SE Asia, Japan but I can't thing of anything in Switzerland? Honestly it is the first time in my life that I hear the association computer science - Switzerland..

Because you have no interest in micro-mechanics or manufacturing machines? ETH and EPFL are one of the best universities in the world for CS. No one else than yourself is responsible for your own biases.

I don't care if you have the best university in the world. I was speaking about companies and there is no hardware/software world-leading class company in Switzerland that I know. I still didn't see one in all the comments and no down voter provided one single example.

Re: Switzerland is the world’s most competitive economy

#174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ok, why all the high tech industries that come to my mind are based in SV, UK, SE Asia, Japan but I can't thing of anything in Switzerland? Honestly it is the first time in my life that I hear the association computer science - Switzerland..

Also pharma/biotech: Novartis, Roche, Synthes...

Pharma is obviously well developed in Switzerland, but what has to do with hardware/software companies?

Re: Switzerland is the world’s most competitive economy

#175
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's almost like saying: "since we can't have perfect comparisons, let's have no comparisons at all".

What value is derived from the comparisons?

Simple, the mother of progress, increased expectations! :)

There's a reason North Korea locks its citizens in and doesn't allow them access to any information about the outside world.

Re: Switzerland is the world’s most competitive economy

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cost of living should be considered along with their income tax rate. It varies from canton (province) to canton, but hovers around 10%. That's a great deal compared to most any other European country. In neighboring Germany for instance, if you earn €55k, your tax rate is about 44% (including solidarity surcharge). In Zurich it's about 11% (canton plus federal tax). The top rates are 47% and 16%, respectively. S…

11% in Zurich? Only at the lowest wages, like a cashier. The tax progression is steep and the rates quickly become comparable to other european countries. In Zurich marginal tax rate levels at about 40% pretty quickly for higher than average earner.

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Re: Switzerland is the world’s most competitive economy

#177
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Switzerland managed to build a highly specialized economy in several high-value sectors: pharma, banking, computer science, micro-mechanics, manufacturing machines...

ok, why all the high tech industries that come to my mind are based in SV, UK, SE Asia, Japan but I can't thing of anything in Switzerland? Honestly it is the first time in my life that I hear the association computer science - Switzerland..

You will not find companies producing hardware in Switzerland (apart maybe of Logitech). This would be much to expensive, but there are a lot of companies which have their R&D departments in Switzerland.

Also Switzerland strengths, like Germany, is not rooted by the big companies. The small to medium sized companies are the backbone of the success. And naturally those are not as known as an Apple or Samsung.

Re: Switzerland is the world’s most competitive economy

#178

I have a few questions for Swiss expats. Could you tell me about the Swiss culture--at bit? I know it's a huge topic. Just some of the differences you see between the Swiss, and say Americans. I mainly interested in the Millenials. What do they think of Americans? Do they basically have the same hobbies? Are their any stark differences in what they value? Do they view Americans as spoiled? Do they fear us? This next…

This is a pretty good overview of how Swiss people see Americans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-l59gZKLEI

Its from a comedy show which do shorts like this on all sorts of stereotypes, however this was the one of the most controversial ones. The US embassy even got involved in the end.

Re: Switzerland is the world’s most competitive economy

#179
post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cost of living should be considered along with their income tax rate. It varies from canton (province) to canton, but hovers around 10%. That's a great deal compared to most any other European country. In neighboring Germany for instance, if you earn €55k, your tax rate is about 44% (including solidarity surcharge). In Zurich it's about 11% (canton plus federal tax). The top rates are 47% and 16%, respectively. S…

I’m not sure which part I’m missing here, but I’m living in Zürich and I pay about 40% taxes, not merely 11%…?

I'm amazed by this 40% which you and zavandor are paying. I'm living in Zurich as well and I'm not paying even half of that (and no I'm not working as a cashier). If I'm looking at the tax rates of the canton Zurich then the maximum you can be charged for, cantonal and federal taxes combined, is 26.2%: http://taxsummaries.pwc.com/uk/taxsummaries/wwts.nsf/ID/Swit...

Re: Switzerland is the world’s most competitive economy

#180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it easy to get a job in Switzerland as developer + EU citizen? Is it likely to change because of immigration regulations?

No, unless you're in a medical profession or German, or both. Try applying for a job in Switzerland and you will get so much pre-canned refusal correspondence that your head will spin. The country is overcrowded and the Swiss are not thrilled about having foreigners in their country, unless they absolutely have no choice, and even then they secretly hate it. As far as they're concerned, if you're very rich you're wel…

I don't know about other area's, but as a developer it is well doable to get a job in Switzerland. What you're saying about the Swiss hating foreigners is definitely not true, I would even say the opposite. But the competition for IT jobs is a bit more tough than in some other countries in the EU. I don't know why that is, maybe it's because of the outflow of the ETH or maybe it's just that Swiss jobs are so popular with foreigners.
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