Jobs in Switzerland for non German speakers

[Madhatterhouse]

Husband and I discussing a potential move to Switzerland. He is German, works in investment banking - could easily get a job. While we could comfortably live off his salary alone, we don’t have kids and I would want to work.

I currently work in a mid-level role in a big Financial Services company in London. Am I mad to wonder if I might be able to get an ok job in Basel/Zurich without (currently) speaking German? I really want to make the move but I don’t want to not work both for my own sanity and for the longterm effect on my career.

My brother worked for a company just outside Zurich as a non German speaker but he was transferred there from London. Another friend’s husband was transferred to Zurich, he doesn’t speak German either. She doesn’t work anymore, she used to work as a chef but is late 50s now and they don’t need the money (plus they still have quite a young child for their ages & she has suffered ill-health).

English is the main language used in office environments in Switzerland. I use to do marketing and would have to call to Switzerland daily and every time whoever I spoke too they answered in English and spoke it frequently. You shouldn’t have much problem finding a job and learning German in the mean time xx

I used to work in both the financial and pharmaceutical sectors where therencould have been the opportunities to work in Basel or Zurich. The businesses operated in english so langauge would not have been a problem at all.

I've worked in Switzerland, in corporates where English was spoken throughout the office. As a (native but rusty) German speaker, people were very kind about my inability to understand the local vernacular, Swiss German is another thing entirely.

People would automatically switch to English rather than 'Standard German' in the face of my incomprehension. You will be fine.

It would be very easy to stay in international circles and not bother to learn German.

Please don't be that person.

Thank you all - this is far more encouraging than I expected! I absolutely would be learning German, I was studying at the Goethe Institute for a year in London a while back and so kind of understand it but barely speak it. And as you say, Swiss German is quite different! But I’d be picking lessons back up before any move. Thank you all xxx

We spent 8 years in Switzerland, DH was a trader for an Investment bank.

Front office, especially the trading floors, most people are not Swiss and so all speak English day to day.

Middle office and back office, most people are Swiss and although they can speak English fluently, it doesn’t mean that they should or will speak English. You will need to learn Swiss German pretty fast.

People will rather speak to you in English than High German, there is something of a Swiss - German tension, not everywhere but it does exist.

The Swiss banks have laid off people recently, so that might make finding a job a bit harder, just beware.

Salaries - DH’s salary was about 280K- 320K CHF basic, which may seem higher than a basic London salary for banking but we did not feel any better off, in fact we felt worse off. Bonuses have not been extravagant these last few years, and CH is an expensive place to live. I worked too and we had to watch our spending, ok we were by no means struggling but CH is £€$!!!! Goodluck with your move and get on with learning High German and Swiss German! X

Depending on outcome of Brexit it may not be a given that as a trailing spouse you would be eligible to work there if you are a British citizen. There used to be a permit system. Locally recruited jobs tend to be prioritised for Swiss citizens unless there is a specific reason to recruit an Auslander.

I’m in the fortunate position of having an Irish passport as well as British so thankfully that’s one less thing to worry about.

You’ll be fine. Lots of multinationals in Zurich, English spoken everywhere.

Immigration all ok between uk and Switzerland too, irrespective of Brexit.

Go for it! It’s a great place to live. A family income of 200k per year is fine. More is nice but you could live just fine on that.

Thanks @chocdip. We live in the most expensive borough in London at the moment, our rent is eye watering - I’m hoping that will lessen the shock of the price of housing etc. somewhat!

You will never get used to how expensive Switzerland is. Have you looked at rentals ..try Homegate to compare. You want to focus on learning German and that is all you really need. No Swiss person expects you to learn Swiss German. Plenty of expats in and around Switzerland. You don't have to speak German to get a job if you have a specialized field. Banking, Finance. Have a look at English Forum . CH for an english forum about Switzerland. You might miss the diversity of London but if you like hiking and skiing you can make it up by enjoying the Alps. If you need a break from Switzerland you have Germany, France or Italy a car drive away.

I have had a look at Zurich and the surrounding areas on homegate. We currently pay £3k per month for a one bed flat in London and while some decent ones I looked at on homegate were more, they didn’t seem too far off what I was expecting but hard to tell for sure until we settle on exactly where we’d want to live. We also currently rent a flat in another European city for my husband’s job (another reason we want to move - so we can be together in the week again) so we wouldn’t have that expense any more either.

Starting German lessons again next month - looking forward to it as I have a really clear incentive to learn this time!