The list seems like a dream, especially the healthcare part and the neutrality of the Swiss, not as extreme and divided. The housing, taxes and pay are icing on the cake. To top it off, Switzerland looks like a dreamland with all those amazing views.
Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers
41–50 of 345 posts
Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers
#42I'm an American expat in Switzerland working as an independent software developer and startup founder. I can agree with a lot of the points listed in the article, but they apply universally to almost all jobs (not just to software developers). I would raise a few points it doesn't mention: - Negatively, it is much harder to find meetups close to you that apply to you. Unless you're based in Zürich (the tech hub of th…
Have you found there to be a significant language barrier when moving to Switzerland? I know Europeans generally know English, but is there an expectation that you speak German or another local language?
I spoke enough German to make the transition to Swiss German okay. It's definitely a barrier and I'm still working through it. Most people can and do speak English if they think their English is smoother than your German / Swiss German.
Outside of major, cosmopolitan cities (pretty much Zürich and Geneva), I'd say there is an expectation to speak the local language. Anything official I've done has been in German.
Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers
#43A maybe minor point: It's more or less impossible to become a Swiss if you aren't already whereas it's kind of possible to become an American. If your company makes it it's entirely possible this can become a problem down the line, for instance regarding your tax status or rights and obligations.
Also, the culture is remarkably different, so if you're expecting something similar to the american college campus-like experience large companies offer over there you're in for a hell of a culture shock.
Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers
#44Cons: no Sun and the salaries seem to be capped at CHF 120-140K. Has that old school European mindset that managers and MBAs should be paid more than individual contributors, engineers.
Lots of Sun, but maybe not as much as Southern California. San Francisco is famously non-sunny (all that cloud). Salaries are certainly not capped at 140k CHF, I've seen a number of job ads for 180K CHF and that doesn't count stock options which is usually the bulk of compensation at the high end. Not sure about the MBA vs IC thing though.
> San Francisco is famously non-sunny (all that cloud).
Used to be true, but less and less given climate change
Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers
#45I'm an American expat in Switzerland working as an independent software developer and startup founder. I can agree with a lot of the points listed in the article, but they apply universally to almost all jobs (not just to software developers). I would raise a few points it doesn't mention: - Negatively, it is much harder to find meetups close to you that apply to you. Unless you're based in Zürich (the tech hub of th…
Are there 95-100% remote jobs?
From what I've seen, it's less common than the US but they do exist.
Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers
#46Cons: no Sun and the salaries seem to be capped at CHF 120-140K. Has that old school European mindset that managers and MBAs should be paid more than individual contributors, engineers.
They still have the highest salaries in Europe. Anybody moving there from another European country would see those salaries as pretty awesome. I don't care what managers and MBA-s make until I can make an awesome living. I'm not more special.
Exactly. I would make double what I make now in the Netherlands.
That being said, everything is 2 to 3 times more expensive there. That might well be worth it given the quality of life you get there.
Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers
#47Cons: no Sun and the salaries seem to be capped at CHF 120-140K. Has that old school European mindset that managers and MBAs should be paid more than individual contributors, engineers.
> Cons: no Sun
That's a pro to me. I'm happiest when it's cool and cloudy, and everything to do with the sun is just brutally oppressive and makes it hard to get anything done.
Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers
#48> In Zurich, you can rent a whole flat (50+ square meters) for something between 2500-4000 CHF Is USD 2500 - USD 4000 supposed to be cheap?!
Yeah and that's for a 538 sqft apartment. I don't know the specifics of the San Francisco rental market, but you can easily beat $4k/mo for a studio in desirable parts of Manhattan, so I assume the same is true of SV
Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers
#49> In Zurich, you can rent a whole flat (50+ square meters) for something between 2500-4000 CHF Is USD 2500 - USD 4000 supposed to be cheap?!
In Silly Valley, yes.
Re: Switzerland vs Silicon Valley for Software Developers
#50I'm an American expat in Switzerland working as an independent software developer and startup founder. I can agree with a lot of the points listed in the article, but they apply universally to almost all jobs (not just to software developers). I would raise a few points it doesn't mention: - Negatively, it is much harder to find meetups close to you that apply to you. Unless you're based in Zürich (the tech hub of th…
> - Negatively, it is much harder to find meetups close to you that apply to you. Unless you're based in Zürich (the tech hub of the region), expect any meetups to be irregular and if you don't go to the next one, it might be the last one.
In my experience there is a lot of meetup in Lausanne and Geneva. However it is a different kind of tech hub mostly focus on deep tech, where Zurich/zug focus mostly on Fintech/Blockchain.