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Announcing Google Research, Europe

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Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#21

Post by RBerenguel »

tluyben2 wrote: post #11
Roritharr wrote: post #3

This really makes me consider moving my family to Zurich. Looking back at growing up in Germany/Europe made me really feel disadvantaged compared to people growing up in more tech friendly environments. I would want my child to grow up somewhere where technology is not overwhelmingly debated about in a negative light. So much good stuff is coming out of ETH that it really seems to be a place where people talk more en…

Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Berlin, Munchen, Madrid, Barcelona London (for now), hell even Malaga are tech friendly and much easier (in my experience, but that is totally a matter of taste: I find Swiss too stiff) to settle. Really wondering where you are from. Edit: fixed Barcelona

Barça is only used for the football team, the city is Barcelona, Bcn (for short) or "down there" if you are not in the area but still in Catalonia

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#22

Post by paganel »

s3nnyy wrote: post #20
igk wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does this offer stand for Europeans as well?

Everyone who has an EU passport (including Romania and Bulgaria since 1.6.) can / will get a work permit.

As a Romanian, that sounds great! Does the Swiss tech scene have any life in it? I mean, apart from Google's offices and the like (I would personally like to avoid big corporations, mostly). I'm asking because as seen from Eastern Europe industrial powerhouses like Germany and Northern Italy look like they're at least 10-15 years back when it comes to IT (Berlin excluded).

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#23

Post by esac »

s3nnyy wrote: post #17
Roritharr wrote: post #3

This really makes me consider moving my family to Zurich. Looking back at growing up in Germany/Europe made me really feel disadvantaged compared to people growing up in more tech friendly environments. I would want my child to grow up somewhere where technology is not overwhelmingly debated about in a negative light. So much good stuff is coming out of ETH that it really seems to be a place where people talk more en…

I am well-connected in the tech-scene in Zurich and if you're thinking of moving here and getting an IT job, feel free to contact me - you find my email address in my HN profile. Also you can read my blogpost "8 reasons why I moved to Switzerland to work in IT": https://medium.com/@iwaninzurich/eight-reasons-why-i-moved-t...

you answer mails aswell?

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#25

Post by kriro »

Roritharr wrote: post #3

This really makes me consider moving my family to Zurich. Looking back at growing up in Germany/Europe made me really feel disadvantaged compared to people growing up in more tech friendly environments. I would want my child to grow up somewhere where technology is not overwhelmingly debated about in a negative light. So much good stuff is coming out of ETH that it really seems to be a place where people talk more en…

Interesting. I never had the feeling of not growing up in a tech friendly environment in Germany. It's traditionally geared a bit more towards machines than software but overall I think fairly tech friendly/open. Maybe it depends on the specific region.

Entrepreneurship is another issue, I feel like "failing" had and still has an overly negative connotation here.

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#26

Post by nuschk »

tomp wrote: post #14
moondowner wrote: post #7

I guess ETH Zurich and EPFL are the reason why Google chose Switzerland "Europe is home to some of the world’s premier technical universities, making it an ideal place to build a top-notch research team"

I'd guess the main reason is low tax on salaries, and less competition from finance than e.g. London.

Well, finance takes also a large chunk of Switzerland's GDP and thus is scooping up many engineers as well. Maybe it's not as pronounced as in London, but it certainly isn't very easy to hire good engineers here because of all the banks and hedge funds.

I think google came to Zurich because of EPFL/ETH, the very high living standard and most of all the rather liberal labor law. It's very easy to fire someone in Switzerland, compared to the surrounding countries.

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#27

Post by seanmcdirmid »

moondowner wrote: post #7

I guess ETH Zurich and EPFL are the reason why Google chose Switzerland "Europe is home to some of the world’s premier technical universities, making it an ideal place to build a top-notch research team"

Many of the workers in Google Zurich are not Swiss or Swiss university graduates. I mean, there are surely a lot, but they are europe-wide offices. All of Google Russia went there, I think.

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#28

Post by seanmcdirmid »

chmars wrote: post #19
tomp wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd guess the main reason is low tax on salaries, and less competition from finance than e.g. London.

There is no low tax on salaries, that is a myth … and there is a lot of additional mandatory fees in addition to direct salary tax. Switzerland is only a tax haven for a very small target group – and someone has pay for these tax privileges, i.e., salary earners in the private sector.

Swiss income tax IS low, relatively. But if you want to actually buy something....

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#29

Post by fnsa »

nuschk wrote: post #26
tomp wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd guess the main reason is low tax on salaries, and less competition from finance than e.g. London.

Well, finance takes also a large chunk of Switzerland's GDP and thus is scooping up many engineers as well. Maybe it's not as pronounced as in London, but it certainly isn't very easy to hire good engineers here because of all the banks and hedge funds. I think google came to Zurich because of EPFL/ETH, the very high living standard and most of all the rather liberal labor law. It's very easy to fire someone in Switz…

I think that Google went to Zurich because an early engineer was from there.

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#30

Post by planetjones »

A good sign of commitment by Google to their Zurich office - recently the Swiss papers had stories of Google looking towards building their London office, due to limitations in acquiring work permits for staff in Switzerand. This news somewhat contradicts it; Zurich really is an attractive location for talent to flock toward.
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