Expats living in the Alpine country value safety and dislike the Swiss
However, as the portal Swissinfo.ch notes, the above-mentioned countries were named the best or worst specifically in the corresponding categories, not overall.
For the first time, the site “Expat Insider” tried to look at the world through the eyes of expats in 2014, when its study was first published, aiming to find out where and for whom life is good in the world. Switzerland was then ranked fourth among the best places to live and work, according to foreign professionals working abroad. But then, as they say, something went wrong: first the Confederation dropped to 14th place, then to 31st.
Now the fall seems to have stopped – this year Switzerland is in 27th place, but this indicator is still inexplicably surprising for a country that so often tops other rankings of “best countries,” whether in education, innovation, or, for example, in the fight against corruption. And so a paradox emerges: there are no bribes in the country (well, almost none), but expats live here even worse than in Russia or China. Really? Or maybe it’s all about how you count?
“When it comes to the level of safety and the degree of social protection, Switzerland is always guaranteed to be among the top places,” Malte Zick, a German national, founder and one of the heads of the social network “InterNations,” told the portal Swissinfo.ch. “This is because people here intuitively rate their personal safety very highly, adding the political stability of modern Switzerland.”
Social and labor guarantees are highly valued here. According to both expats and citizens of the Alpine republic, employment standards are very high. And on this indicator, Switzerland also always ranks no lower than third place. The country’s central location in Europe and its excellent transport infrastructure are also traditionally highly rated in the eyes of expats.
“Problems begin immediately when it comes to ‘settling in,’ feeling at home, and making friends here. And in this area, Switzerland’s ranking is indeed very low,” notes Malte Zick. “In 2017, the country is only in 61st place out of 65 countries. Over the past four years, it has consistently ranked in the bottom ten.”
Expats in Switzerland have little positive to say about the local population. In the eyes of foreigners, the “Helvetians” appear reserved (78%), aloof (57%), too traditionalist (64%), and also not very dynamic (54%). Almost seven out of ten expats (68%, which is about 30% more than the global average) agree that making friends here is difficult. In terms of openness, “Switzerland is among the three lowest-ranked countries, right after Denmark and Sweden,” Malte Zick points out.
Only half of respondents believe that the general friendliness of the Swiss population is only 20 percent below the global average. According to one American respondent, “In Switzerland, people are friendly, but to be so, they don’t necessarily need to have friends themselves.”
Malte Zick himself experienced something similar as a student at the University of St. Gallen. “It is very difficult to win the friendship of a Swiss person. People here generally socialize within their own circle of friends, especially in anonymous cities, where it is very difficult for a foreigner to create their own network of acquaintances,” he says. “Swiss students in St. Gallen typically go home every weekend to see their old friends and are much less willing to get close to foreign classmates.”
And even if six out of ten expats (61%) speak the local language(s) well enough – including 11% who are native German speakers – many foreign professionals still suffer from a lack of understanding of local dialects, which are actually used in all normal everyday life. For example, it would never occur to a “German” Swiss to write an SMS in standard German; for them, the language of Goethe and Hegel is close but still foreign, associated with study, work, and some not very pleasant obligations.
Only 22% of expats consider the local language easy to learn. For comparison: globally, this figure is at 33%. As another respondent from the US says, “They speak Swiss German, which is so far from standard literary language that even Germans themselves cannot understand it.” Let us add that some Swiss are sometimes not understood by their own compatriots from other cantons.
Malte Zick agrees: “When communicating with locals, I always felt a certain distance, probably because for them speaking standard German, which requires strict adherence to grammar, traditionally causes certain difficulties – after all, for them it is a completely different language, different from their native dialect.”
As a result, the majority of expats (52%) have friends who are also other foreigners. But for the “InterNations” network, this is good news, because it means its services will be guaranteed to be in demand in the future? “Yes! In cities like Zurich, Geneva, Bern, Basel, St. Gallen, and Zug, we have very small expat communities,” says M. Zick. “Therefore, about 70% of our network members are foreign professionals, and only 30% are Swiss who are inclined to a cosmopolitan lifestyle and mindset, that is, English-speaking, interested in contacts with foreigners. Often they themselves have lived abroad or are planning to move abroad in the near future.”
However, expats' impressions of the country are not limited to complaints and grievances. They admire Switzerland's economy! Only 1% of respondents can say anything negative on this topic, compared to a quarter of respondents in other countries. About 58% consider the Swiss economy even more than good, that is, simply excellent. Approximately three-quarters of expats working here (77%) say their salary is noticeably higher compared to what they could expect at home, and 44% believe their earnings here are much higher.
Statistics fully confirm this statement. An annual household income before taxes of more than $100,000 or 96,650 Swiss francs is declared by 57% of expats in Switzerland, and 14% even have more than $200,000 at their disposal. These figures are more than three times the global averages of 21% and 5%, respectively.
But there is also a fly in the ointment. The country ranks second to last in the cost of living index. Nearly three-quarters of respondents (73%) assess this factor very negatively. "The cost of living here is extremely high, even considering the substantial salaries," complains a respondent from Hungary. Most expats also negatively assess housing affordability (67%), the healthcare system (50%), and childcare facilities (71% of parents).
Nevertheless, despite the outrageously high prices, about seven out of ten expats (69%) are generally satisfied with their financial situation in Switzerland. Along with them, about 78% say they have more or less enough to cover their expenses. As a result, we have a respectable 26th place in the personal finance index.
It is worth adding that for those seeking safety and protection in times of global instability, Switzerland is indeed the most suitable country. Foreigners make up 25% of the total population of 8.4 million, and 97% of respondents feel completely or largely safe here, which is 18% higher than the global average.
In 2017, the personal safety rating increased again, and while Switzerland did not even make the top ten in this indicator last year, it now ranks third. A respondent from Kenya spoke enthusiastically about life in Switzerland: "My children are growing up in safety and speak several languages – and that's wonderful!"