I'm a British expat that has been living in Zurich for the last 10 years. Currently I work in Supply Chain for an English speaking company. I can say that Swiss do not get paid more than expats, its definitely equal but I can only speak for my company. Rent: Yes Zurich is expensive but I live in a 2 bedroom apartment and pay 2300chf per month, like any expensive city you can always find a cheaper apartment, it tends to be the new builds in Zurich that are more expensive. Actually with apartments you need to put down 3 months of rent, which is the cost of the deposit plus 1 month rent. So 4 months in rent in total. I have lived in 3 different apartments and its always been this way. Health insurance I pay 300chf per month, it can be more but depends on your premiums. Food shopping, 2K is a lot, not sure what he is buying. My shopping budget is 650chf per month. I will also add I am married with one child. Saving, depends on you as a person. I save about 25K per year. My salary is 105K a year, I'm satisfied but I would always like to earn more!
@@jessica-patriciakoso5022 I work as a supply planner. There are plenty of jobs in Supply chain that only requires English. if you have a European passport you should be fine to move here.
Overall a fair judgement of Zurich and Switzerland in general. One thing that was not accurate was the points on weather/seasons. Between summer and winter, there is fall and spring. Bith seasons are very similiar, with plenty of sunny days, temperature between 15-23C plus 50% rainy/foggy days. In other words, its not winter from August to June. Winter (with snow) starts in November, ends in April. Born Swiss here, been living in Zurich for eight years.
I am also a Portuguese born in Lisbon like Hugo. I think he meant from how cold it is and how long. I live in Munich since 6 years and I totally get what Hugo said. For me it feels like winter here is from October to April (7 months), comparing to Portugal December to March (4 months).
Interesting take Jan. It’s true people have different concepts of winter depending on where they come from. I am also from Lisbon even though I live in a northern country and I get what you are saying. For south European people I think winter is every time of the year that the temperature falls below 15C and it rains often. No need for snow for us to consider a season winter. Here in the north it’s a different story 😂 Also really nice informative video overall and feels like a great channel to follow. Looking forward for more.
@@RS-gm1qb Well, In Zürich, "Winter" means from the end of November, through the end of March (while "Summer" means from the end of May, through the end of September).
@@send_love Well, do you get your healthcare coverage from a National Health Insurance that you contribute to/pay into, every month, Through Taxes/Taxation?!?
Excellent practical and specific questions from the interviewer. And also this was a very clear, and respecteous interview. High praise to the interviewer for keeping it informative without fluff.
I’m Swiss, i pay Sfr. 400 per month for my health fund, i have a franchise of Sfr. 500 which means i pay the first Sfr. 500 in the year and after that, any bill i have, i only pay 10% of the bill, the health fund pays the rest. The healthcare is great here.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you very much for the compliment. These are the kind of interviews we like on the channel so if you're into exploring your options globally and what to hear from people's experiences, we'd love to have you as a subscriber. - Josh
I live in Geneva and this was spot on. I will only make a couple of remarks of my personal experience of living by myself in Switzerland. To apply for an apartment you need to present proof of 3 salarys (the dossier to rent an apartment must have: 3 salarys proof; copy of work contract; copy of ID; swiss proof of no debt). You also will need insurance for the house, which is not expensive, I pay 115 CHF a year. Regarding health insurance, in my case it is provided by the company where I work, it’s part of my contract, for that I have premium insurance for the minimum cost.
Thanks for the added information, Paulo! It's great to hear from you. Did you find it difficult finding a place to rent and securing a rental in Geneva being a "foreigner"?
@@ExpatsEverywhere You're welcome :) As he said in the interview, is very difficult to find an apartment in Switzerland. Geneva is no exception, not only to expats but also to "nationals". There are companies that, as they have the need to contract foreigners, they have apartments to help the newcomers in the first 3 months (3 months is the magical number because every agency demands a proof of 3 salaries).
@@TomBarman There was a song about 3 being the magic number! Would you say it's true that expats are placed lower in terms of priority for housing compared to locals?
@@ExpatsEverywhere to my knowledge no. For what I realized they really look to the kind of contract the person have, not only the income the person have but also if it is a permanent or temporary contract. In the end they only want to get paid on time. No delays... it’s Switzerland :)
@@TomBarman Just curious, what do you mean by three salaries? Does it mean you must have money about three month salary in your bank account or you must have three sources of income or something else?
Working in living in one of d cities in Switzerland r a bonus for travellers. Just hours away for a visit to neighboring countries n their cities, France, Germany, Czech, Austria, Italy.
I just scrolled randomly the point he mentions about rent for 1 bedroom apartment costing 2500. Where does he get that? For that money you get a 2 or 3 bedroom in the Seefed (probably the most sought after area). 2500 is way off the average cost and is completely misleading
Fair enough. We're seeing on Numbeo that 2000 is the average 1 br, but also he explained how it was difficult as a foreigner to find a place and that he felt like he was lower in the queue so that could have something to do with pricing. We're not here to argue, we have another video about Zurich that's more data based and this is more opinion about Hugo's experience.
I'm planing to relocate to Switzerland from Argentina and i played rugby my whole childhood, i would like to know where and how did you play touch rugby?
400 of health insurance? I am Swiss but living in south america still working for a Swiss company. I still have to have a Swiss health insurance which would be too complicated to explain why actually but I only pay 200. You are free to choose which insurance company you want to use and there is a page called comparis you can compare health insurance or mobile phone plans etcetera.
Some numbers do not match up for me... if the reference salary is 100k (I assume before taxes), the net salary will be around 75k (on average the cumulative tax burden is ~25%). So if one third goes to saving that would be 25k. 30k probably comes from the assumption that the 100k salary is net (after taxes), which is way above the average in Switzerland, since it would correspond to ~140k before taxes.
He said if you have a Master Degree. Average person with Master Degree doesn't earn average salary in a country. It's usually higher think doctors architects, lawyers, professors
Many things here are not correct! Jobs are very competitive and hard to get good salaries!!! You cannot go to the lake to swim and work because pressure and stress in the job eats you !! If you want a good salary
This seems to be a very charming place, I hope I can visit sometime in the future when all this is over. Seeing and sharing places like this is why I love traveling and make videos so much! And please keep up the great job! Subscribed!!
I understand that weather in Zurich is quite different from Portugal, but I think Hugo might exaggerate a bit 😁 So, my perspective as a girl from East Europe who grew up in temperatures around -25..+35 C throughout one year, with a lot of snow in winter months, with mostly negative temperatures from November to April. Zurich is GREAT, it's warm, the climate is mild. The negative temperatures in winter is a rarity, as well as snow. You can wear a light trenchcoat for most days in the end of autumn and in the beginning of spring. In my experience, in winter there are only a couple of days when temperatures are negative and you really have to wear something warm-warm. Of course, weather is colder in mountains, always, but in Zurich it's like that. The only thing I don't like is a lot of rainy and grey days, especially from the end of autumn until the beginning of summer. I'd really like more sun ☀️
The truth is that rental, eating out and super markets are expensive. The rest of the things are normal, clothes' prices also most of the times are just normal.
Good guy! I'm half english/swiss and was raised here. The most of it is correct, but the health insurance u can get cheaper, depends on the insurance. Zürich is veery international! The most in Switzerland, all Banks and Insurances are based in this city. I live on the outskirts which is still in the same Kanton Zürich and the health care is actually brilliant, when u have a doctr down the road, so when u live in a small village like I do, I just need to call up and I can almost go immediately to him without waiting for days or weeks, not like in a bigger city. Life is very exepnsive here, correct, BUT.. the Salary what u can have (depends on which job u have!) is reeaally imense ;-) We have a lot of people living abroad coming to work every day, thatz about 300'000. 8.5 Million people live in Switzerland and we do have a bout 25% Foreigners living here, although in bigger Cities it feels like 50%, depends which city and how big they are. 370'000 are alone in Zürich. The most negative thing about the Swiss (the real swiss) or in particular in Zürich are the people themselfs. Especially the pretty Girls/Women.. the attiude is sometimes very cold and arrogant. Zürich is not very popluar in the whole of Siwtzerland, because of that. That's a fact! It is very difficult to get into a swiss cirlce of friendship. Don't get me worng, they're some nice dudes around, but they would invite you for a drink or invite u for home bbq. Zürich is very special in that area, but the multi culture life here does the swiss very good ;-) That's why all the spanish, italians, türkish etc. stick together and have their own fun. The average Züich guy or woman is very boring. No joke. I really tlak of experience. The Soul, heart and humour isn't in this City at all. Cheers!
What do you think about 4500chF/month? Is that veery low or would it be possible to save some money if you live pretty cheap and find a cheap apartment?
100,000 to 120,00 CHF for a single person in Zurich per year seems a bit much for me. I'd say 70,000 should be fine for a comfortable life style. With 50,000 per year you should probably abstain from buying your coffee from Starbucks and too frequent after-work pints
Hehe, I was thinking the same. But like they say, there's no amount of money you couldn't spend. I live in London, on my own and I can still save something from my £2000net a month. It's a modest lifestyle but I'm definitely not starving, just being considerate and reasonable about my money. Given the 1.8 factor, I think I'd be more than fine with 50k CHF. I've never lived there so still not so sure what income would be realistic in my case, really. It's just given the London costs of living and income tax.
CHF 50K is extremely low for Zürich and for CH in general. If you consider that a minimum wage in Geneva is about CHF 5K/month, CHF 50K barely puts you above the poverty line (which is something around CHF2-2.5K/month in CH). Prices are insane for everything: from groceries to health and car insurance to public transportation. Let’s be realistic with the calculations.
@@ExpatsEverywhere Yeah, but he said in September temperature would be not higher than 15 degrees. What? We're not living in Iceland here! In September it’s very often warmer than 25 degrees, and also in October we often have warm and sunny days of 20 degrees and more. And again from March on, temperate can already rise over 20 degrees occasionally, although you still can have really cold days till April or so.
its not nonsense. Look at the facts. Zurich has the same hours of sun per year as a remote city in Alaska: Facts: Sunshine Duration In Hours Per Year Zurich, Switzerland: 1,566 hours Juneau, Alaska: 1,530.7 hours britishbusinessenergy.co.uk/sunshine-duration/
Would love to visit Switzerland as I love nature, mountains and waterfalls... i heard it’s so beautiful there. Of course, I also heard it’s expensive. Would love to live there and leave awful U.S
@@StEvUgnIn Really? Would you recommend me as a swedish guy to move to switzerland just because to get a new lifestyle and leave everything in sweden? I feel bored here, i do got a new job now which i will start soon but i got offer in switzerland also and start to regret that i did not take the job in switzerland. I was scared as low payed in switzerland it would get boring, because of not having money to do things
D more developed a city is, d more expensive d cost of living is. Malaysia is still a developing country, n d cost of living is quite good for expats, but not for majority of d middle n low income group.
@@ExpatsEverywhere ,how are you doing? I live in Houston tx am a pharmacy.thinking of moving to Switzerland with my family please how can I go about it?
hi thanks for the guide! but how can you send the residence permit to rent an house, if you need the rental contract to get the residence permit?? 😂 sounds like a dog that bites its own tail
I dont like crowded expinsice places to live anyway what about living in countryside or another unkwon swterland cites and villges it is that expinsive too
with a bit more hunting you will find small single rooms down to 800/month. I lived for a while in a 3 room apartment for 2500/month in Lausanne (Another major city).
Great Info! Thanks for making this. Most practical and informational video on Switzerland, I've seen so far. I am moving from Minnesota, of the United States to Zurich, in 36 days! Any recommended IT \ International companies?
Brilliant, we're really glad to hear that. Hugo loves to help out expats because he has the long time experience of being one, so we'll ask him to take a look at this comment and weigh-in on it. How does that sound? Thanks for the feedback, Jake!
Hi Jake! Have a look into www.job-room.ch/home/job-seeker (this is a government website) and LinkedIn job adverts, both are excellent starting points for a job search in Zurich. Best of luck!
I don't want to live in a city where the most exciting thing to do on weekends is to escape to better places. It's like the city itself is saying, 'Please, go have fun somewhere else!' 😂
This was very helpful, thank you. Good questions and discussion. Funny that the host looks like he’s a grown man in his mid 30’s or something but is dressed as a junior high school kid but I guess that’s just the US...
😁 I'm glad that you think I'm in my mid-30s. Glad the video was helpful and we appreciate the compliment on our questions and discussion with our interviewee. We hope to have you around the channel more often. - Josh
We call ourselves Immigrants not expats, were like you we’re foreigners and we moved here from Italy. We dont call ourselves expats, but wait are we supposed to? Expat just sounds like an excuse to not call yourself an immigrant
Whatever you like to call yourself makes no difference to us. We go by the general guideline that an expat is short term or temporary and an immigrant is long term or permanent intention. For us personally, we never move with the intention of being somewhere forever or even long term and neither did Hugo. In fact, he's back in Portugal already. - Josh & Kalie
This paints a bit of a one sided picture. Not everyone by far earns 100k and more here. People should get the illusion out of their heads. Lots and lots of people earn between 70 and 90k. Opportunities are here. Especially when starting your own business, Switzerland is very friendly towards businesses. And yes, one needs a lot of starting money. It is actually the first 3 month of rent as a despot and then the actual month plus health insurance. Health insurance in Zurich, the basic is currently around 300-330 but do not forget the 2500 francs of copayment and then 10% of every invoice until 700 are payed. It is not easy. child care for 5 days a week, so you can actually work and make money is about 2500 per child, that without a 500-1000 deposit and many other caveats. And that just Zurich. Bern I heard has higher taxes and higher health insurance rates. Lots and lots of people live outside the city and even share flats or houses just to keep cost down. Average rent is 3k and up, 2500 is when you are lucky, there are usually dozens of applicants for a flat of 3k we visited ones. I counted 70 that hour… go figure. Working hours here are 42 a week. Vacation 25 days and depending on the company but usually Swiss people are hard working people.
In Portugal, if your salary can pay your roof alone, you're lucky. We are not even talking about food, health, transportation, communications.. etc. Eg: you can earn as low as 500 Euros per month, and still have to pay 5 Euro for a glass of wine in a café (thanks to tourism). Many Portuguese on their 30s 40s live like students in shared flats, even though working for several years. Let alone thinking about having kids..
@@RS-gm1qb E deves pensar que és o único. Então podias me explicar como temos conseguido comprar casa , carro e outras coisas ao longo dos séculos com esses ordenados miserável e os outros Europeus com os “ tais bons ordenados “ têm conseguido comprar menos?.
Hi Hugo, I'm an 18 year old from Sri Lanka. I'm an artist and love to live among nature and clean air. My Dad passed away four months ago. I'm living with my mom. I have no brothers or sisters. My mom wants to sell our home and move to another country. I want to live and work there. I love to move to Switzerland because its a very peaceful country. If you know of anyone who can help me , please let me know.
That's really hard to give you advice on your very personal situation. However, what we can tell you that 4,500 per month is well below the average salary for Zurich and if it's not including a housing stipend and doesn't cover other expense, you might want to reconsider or renegotiate.
@@ExpatsEverywhere ok. Thank you for reply. I have a Good offer from a compamy in My own country, i Also have People here who i could live with close to work so i wouldnt have any issues with expensive apartments or stress about that. But switzerland seems to be a place i would Love to live in but i got an advice to Wait and get more experience first to be able for a higher salary so i could afford to live an Enjoy life a bit more there.
@@qiancaotang really? ☹️ I have No clue how much the cost of living for 1 person/month is so. But ive heard some say, that you can save 1500chf/month after all Costs. Of apartment are limited to 1000chf
@@smeckenjacksson7732 you should definitely inform yourself better. It doesn't seem that you'll even get a bedroom for 1000CHF let alone a decent apartment. I am expressing purely my opinion, I'm not after a luxury life but for me the acceptable offers start at 1600CHF for a 1 bed flat.
As you will be earning a Swiss salary and paying relatively low taxes, it would be nice if you also spent your money in Switzerland and not carry your money to Germany or Italy. Support the local economy. Thank you very much.
Great video, thanks a lot! How difficult is it to get a corporate job if you only speak English (but have corporate experience in an English speaking country)…?
Salary look 4or5 thousand, but they withdraw a lot that nothing left in my hand, not enough money to go to restaurants. Government may rich, but people are poor. Therefore restaurants are almost empty most of the time and Swiss are very very very cold
sorry, but this is nonsense. There is no "lower-salary-for-foreigner-scheme". But the reality is, that jobs are paid by qualification (like everywhere) and if you don't speak german, you have to do lower paid jobs....
I'm a British expat that has been living in Zurich for the last 10 years. Currently I work in Supply Chain for an English speaking company. I can say that Swiss do not get paid more than expats, its definitely equal but I can only speak for my company.
Rent: Yes Zurich is expensive but I live in a 2 bedroom apartment and pay 2300chf per month, like any expensive city you can always find a cheaper apartment, it tends to be the new builds in Zurich that are more expensive. Actually with apartments you need to put down 3 months of rent, which is the cost of the deposit plus 1 month rent. So 4 months in rent in total. I have lived in 3 different apartments and its always been this way.
Health insurance I pay 300chf per month, it can be more but depends on your premiums.
Food shopping, 2K is a lot, not sure what he is buying. My shopping budget is 650chf per month. I will also add I am married with one child.
Saving, depends on you as a person. I save about 25K per year. My salary is 105K a year, I'm satisfied but I would always like to earn more!
What do you do in supply chain ? I would love to know as I am also looking for work in Switzerland.
@@jessica-patriciakoso5022 I work as a supply planner. There are plenty of jobs in Supply chain that only requires English. if you have a European passport you should be fine to move here.
Where would someone look to find a career in Zurich or Switzerland in general?
Hi Victoria. Can you please give me your ig or email? I'd like to ask you some stuff about Zürich. Thank you
105,000 for you and your family? i got an offer like 90,000 but i am alone... so i might live good i guess XDS
Overall a fair judgement of Zurich and Switzerland in general. One thing that was not accurate was the points on weather/seasons. Between summer and winter, there is fall and spring. Bith seasons are very similiar, with plenty of sunny days, temperature between 15-23C plus 50% rainy/foggy days. In other words, its not winter from August to June. Winter (with snow) starts in November, ends in April.
Born Swiss here, been living in Zurich for eight years.
Thanks, Jan. We appreciate the details you've added here.
I am also a Portuguese born in Lisbon like Hugo. I think he meant from how cold it is and how long.
I live in Munich since 6 years and I totally get what Hugo said.
For me it feels like winter here is from October to April (7 months), comparing to Portugal December to March (4 months).
Interesting take Jan. It’s true people have different concepts of winter depending on where they come from. I am also from Lisbon even though I live in a northern country and I get what you are saying. For south European people I think winter is every time of the year that the temperature falls below 15C and it rains often. No need for snow for us to consider a season winter. Here in the north it’s a different story 😂 Also really nice informative video overall and feels like a great channel to follow. Looking forward for more.
@@RS-gm1qb Well, In Zürich, "Winter" means from the end of November, through the end of March (while "Summer" means from the end of May, through the end of September).
@@send_love Well, do you get your healthcare coverage from a National Health Insurance that you contribute to/pay into, every month, Through Taxes/Taxation?!?
Excellent practical and specific questions from the interviewer. And also this was a very clear, and respecteous interview. High praise to the interviewer for keeping it informative without fluff.
I’m Swiss, i pay Sfr. 400 per month for my health fund, i have a franchise of Sfr. 500 which means i pay the first Sfr. 500 in the year and after that, any bill i have, i only pay 10% of the bill, the health fund pays the rest. The healthcare is great here.
I really liked how professional this interview was. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you very much for the compliment. These are the kind of interviews we like on the channel so if you're into exploring your options globally and what to hear from people's experiences, we'd love to have you as a subscriber. - Josh
I live in Geneva and this was spot on. I will only make a couple of remarks of my personal experience of living by myself in Switzerland.
To apply for an apartment you need to present proof of 3 salarys (the dossier to rent an apartment must have: 3 salarys proof; copy of work contract; copy of ID; swiss proof of no debt). You also will need insurance for the house, which is not expensive, I pay 115 CHF a year.
Regarding health insurance, in my case it is provided by the company where I work, it’s part of my contract, for that I have premium insurance for the minimum cost.
Thanks for the added information, Paulo! It's great to hear from you. Did you find it difficult finding a place to rent and securing a rental in Geneva being a "foreigner"?
@@ExpatsEverywhere You're welcome :)
As he said in the interview, is very difficult to find an apartment in Switzerland. Geneva is no exception, not only to expats but also to "nationals". There are companies that, as they have the need to contract foreigners, they have apartments to help the newcomers in the first 3 months (3 months is the magical number because every agency demands a proof of 3 salaries).
@@TomBarman There was a song about 3 being the magic number! Would you say it's true that expats are placed lower in terms of priority for housing compared to locals?
@@ExpatsEverywhere to my knowledge no. For what I realized they really look to the kind of contract the person have, not only the income the person have but also if it is a permanent or temporary contract. In the end they only want to get paid on time. No delays... it’s Switzerland :)
@@TomBarman Just curious, what do you mean by three salaries? Does it mean you must have money about three month salary in your bank account or you must have three sources of income or something else?
Awesome guest and his insights throughout the interview.
We were there the middle to end of September last year, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous! Around 65-70 degrees F and so beautiful.
Working in living in one of d cities in Switzerland r a bonus for travellers. Just hours away for a visit to neighboring countries n their cities, France, Germany, Czech, Austria, Italy.
That's right! We actually touch on this in our Zurich-City Guide that will go live on Thursday. Thanks for the comment, Yasin.
@@ExpatsEverywhere Thank u.
I just scrolled randomly the point he mentions about rent for 1 bedroom apartment costing 2500. Where does he get that? For that money you get a 2 or 3 bedroom in the Seefed (probably the most sought after area). 2500 is way off the average cost and is completely misleading
Fair enough. We're seeing on Numbeo that 2000 is the average 1 br, but also he explained how it was difficult as a foreigner to find a place and that he felt like he was lower in the queue so that could have something to do with pricing. We're not here to argue, we have another video about Zurich that's more data based and this is more opinion about Hugo's experience.
I'm planing to relocate to Switzerland from Argentina and i played rugby my whole childhood, i would like to know where and how did you play touch rugby?
With 5000 you can live ok, renting a little bit on the edge of city, not going to restaurant too much, and there are budget products in supermarket
How much do you think you could save/month with 4500-5000ch/month?
@@smeckenjacksson7732 it very very much depends on lifestyle. By living conservatively, you could easily save 1.5K in my experience.
Cold weather in september? I would rather say winter starts in december...
400 of health insurance? I am Swiss but living in south america still working for a Swiss company. I still have to have a Swiss health insurance which would be too complicated to explain why actually but I only pay 200. You are free to choose which insurance company you want to use and there is a page called comparis you can compare health insurance or mobile phone plans etcetera.
Another pro I would say is the amazing history and culture there. The old town is incredible!
Some numbers do not match up for me... if the reference salary is 100k (I assume before taxes), the net salary will be around 75k (on average the cumulative tax burden is ~25%). So if one third goes to saving that would be 25k. 30k probably comes from the assumption that the 100k salary is net (after taxes), which is way above the average in Switzerland, since it would correspond to ~140k before taxes.
Taxes in Switzerland (especially Zurich) are not that high. Your tax burden would be maybe 10%. Maybe even less. Depends on your family situation.
He said if you have a Master Degree. Average person with Master Degree doesn't earn average salary in a country. It's usually higher think doctors architects, lawyers, professors
Tax is 10%
I am a fan of cold weather.
Nice
10th year living in Switzerland at the end of this year!!
Congrats! - Josh & Kalie
Wow... N do you love it ???
Many things here are not correct! Jobs are very competitive and hard to get good salaries!!! You cannot go to the lake to swim and work because pressure and stress in the job eats you !! If you want a good salary
This interview was great! both of you have very good communication skills
Thanks so much!
10:10 2k for groceries in one month? wtf are you eating? caviar? i live in switzerland and if you know how and where buy the food is cheaper than that
This seems to be a very charming place, I hope I can visit sometime in the future when all this is over. Seeing and sharing places like this is why I love traveling and make videos so much! And please keep up the great job! Subscribed!!
I understand that weather in Zurich is quite different from Portugal, but I think Hugo might exaggerate a bit 😁
So, my perspective as a girl from East Europe who grew up in temperatures around -25..+35 C throughout one year, with a lot of snow in winter months, with mostly negative temperatures from November to April.
Zurich is GREAT, it's warm, the climate is mild. The negative temperatures in winter is a rarity, as well as snow. You can wear a light trenchcoat for most days in the end of autumn and in the beginning of spring. In my experience, in winter there are only a couple of days when temperatures are negative and you really have to wear something warm-warm. Of course, weather is colder in mountains, always, but in Zurich it's like that. The only thing I don't like is a lot of rainy and grey days, especially from the end of autumn until the beginning of summer. I'd really like more sun ☀️
The truth is that rental, eating out and super markets are expensive. The rest of the things are normal, clothes' prices also most of the times are just normal.
I wish you a year 2021 even more better than the last passed years. Happy new year.... 🎉🎊🍾🥂✨
Thanks, Duarte! Happy New Year to you too. Many blessings to you!! - Josh & Kalie
Thank you for this useful interview
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great interview, thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
He said: Flying from Zürich is very expansive. When I look at SWOODOO I cannot see that. So is that true or not?
Zurich is an expensive city because you earn more than in other parts of the country.
Good guy! I'm half english/swiss and was raised here. The most of it is correct, but the health insurance u can get cheaper, depends on the insurance. Zürich is veery international! The most in Switzerland, all Banks and Insurances are based in this city. I live on the outskirts which is still in the same Kanton Zürich and the health care is actually brilliant, when u have a doctr down the road, so when u live in a small village like I do, I just need to call up and I can almost go immediately to him without waiting for days or weeks, not like in a bigger city. Life is very exepnsive here, correct, BUT.. the Salary what u can have (depends on which job u have!) is reeaally imense ;-) We have a lot of people living abroad coming to work every day, thatz about 300'000. 8.5 Million people live in Switzerland and we do have a bout 25% Foreigners living here, although in bigger Cities it feels like 50%, depends which city and how big they are. 370'000 are alone in Zürich. The most negative thing about the Swiss (the real swiss) or in particular in Zürich are the people themselfs. Especially the pretty Girls/Women.. the attiude is sometimes very cold and arrogant. Zürich is not very popluar in the whole of Siwtzerland, because of that. That's a fact! It is very difficult to get into a swiss cirlce of friendship. Don't get me worng, they're some nice dudes around, but they would invite you for a drink or invite u for home bbq. Zürich is very special in that area, but the multi culture life here does the swiss very good ;-) That's why all the spanish, italians, türkish etc. stick together and have their own fun. The average Züich guy or woman is very boring. No joke. I really tlak of experience. The Soul, heart and humour isn't in this City at all. Cheers!
Thanks, Stef. We appreciate the added information here from your perspective.
@@ExpatsEverywhere no problem, I like to help and to share ;-) all the best from Fehraltorf (a little village close to Zürich) Peace Stef
@@wellteazm thank you. All the best to you too. Very cute dog btw.
What do you think about 4500chF/month? Is that veery low or would it be possible to save some money if you live pretty cheap and find a cheap apartment?
@@smeckenjacksson7732 anything under 5000 is poverty in zurich
Hi folks very good video I must say ,so a baker can move there and find job ,how much salary they can get there , ❤️
I've heard "EXPENSIVE" in every sentence :))))
😅
100,000 to 120,00 CHF for a single person in Zurich per year seems a bit much for me. I'd say 70,000 should be fine for a comfortable life style. With 50,000 per year you should probably abstain from buying your coffee from Starbucks and too frequent after-work pints
Hehe, I was thinking the same. But like they say, there's no amount of money you couldn't spend. I live in London, on my own and I can still save something from my £2000net a month. It's a modest lifestyle but I'm definitely not starving, just being considerate and reasonable about my money. Given the 1.8 factor, I think I'd be more than fine with 50k CHF. I've never lived there so still not so sure what income would be realistic in my case, really. It's just given the London costs of living and income tax.
CHF 50K is extremely low for Zürich and for CH in general. If you consider that a minimum wage in Geneva is about CHF 5K/month, CHF 50K barely puts you above the poverty line (which is something around CHF2-2.5K/month in CH). Prices are insane for everything: from groceries to health and car insurance to public transportation. Let’s be realistic with the calculations.
What he said about weather is nonsense. Cold weather from September to May? Are you kidding me...? Try November to February...
For the Portuguese, maybe it's old. 😁 Cold is relative. Our Canadian audience loves to get into the comment section when people call stuff cold. 😂
@@ExpatsEverywhere Yeah, but he said in September temperature would be not higher than 15 degrees. What? We're not living in Iceland here! In September it’s very often warmer than 25 degrees, and also in October we often have warm and sunny days of 20 degrees and more. And again from March on, temperate can already rise over 20 degrees occasionally, although you still can have really cold days till April or so.
@@markus_ch we understand. 👍
its not nonsense. Look at the facts. Zurich has the same hours of sun per year as a remote city in Alaska:
Facts: Sunshine Duration In Hours Per Year
Zurich, Switzerland: 1,566 hours
Juneau, Alaska: 1,530.7 hours
britishbusinessenergy.co.uk/sunshine-duration/
@@jimbojones3000 does Alaska get lots of warm winds from the south? Sunhours are not the only parameters to consider.
Would love to visit Switzerland as I love nature, mountains and waterfalls... i heard it’s so beautiful there. Of course, I also heard it’s expensive. Would love to live there and leave awful U.S
Thank you for sharing, Kara.
I wouldn't go for nature. You'd better to Sweden or Norway as they speak English even in small areas. The life is also less stressful.
I'm born in Switzerland. I can speak for myself
@@StEvUgnIn Really? Would you recommend me as a swedish guy to move to switzerland just because to get a new lifestyle and leave everything in sweden? I feel bored here, i do got a new job now which i will start soon but i got offer in switzerland also and start to regret that i did not take the job in switzerland. I was scared as low payed in switzerland it would get boring, because of not having money to do things
@@xuzm Honestly I don't recommend to come working here if your job is not located in Zurich, Geneva or Lausanne.
pretty well summerized. I am living in Zurich for over 20 years thus I can confirm this info.
What a wonderful city Zurich is. A splendor of beautiful landscape. Lucky guy to be working n living in Switzerland. But d cost of living is too high.
D more developed a city is, d more expensive d cost of living is. Malaysia is still a developing country, n d cost of living is quite good for expats, but not for majority of d middle n low income group.
Very true!
@@ExpatsEverywhere ,how are you doing? I live in Houston tx am a pharmacy.thinking of moving to Switzerland with my family please how can I go about it?
It’s all relative to what you earn.
hi thanks for the guide! but how can you send the residence permit to rent an house, if you need the rental contract to get the residence permit?? 😂 sounds like a dog that bites its own tail
I dont like crowded expinsice places to live anyway what about living in countryside or another unkwon swterland cites and villges it is that expinsive too
As far as I know an expat is a militant person on consignment. If you live in a non homeland country you are an immigrant or a tourist not an expat.
Are you working as an architect in Zurich? how is it?
I am an architect and am planning to apply for a position with Calatrava.
14:25 Having fun? This is Zwingli's city we don't have fun. ;)
I believe the Swiss have national healthcare, I could be wrong, the guest workers don’t
It's mandatory for everyone living in Switzerland.
@@flandherr the guest workers pay, not the Swiss
Most questions I been wondering about were answered. What about Income tax, though?
might like to retire there for a bit or work in an international school :) Michael
Nice! Good to hear from you. Keep us posted.
2500CHF per month for one room apartment? Seems too much for me.
with a bit more hunting you will find small single rooms down to 800/month.
I lived for a while in a 3 room apartment for 2500/month in Lausanne (Another major city).
Does this include water and electricity?
my daughter has a room in a wg for 400
Very helpful video thank you! As an architect being interested moving to Zürich. Is it possible to connect with Hugo via social media? Thanks
Hi, Laura. I can ask him. Email me at contact@expatseverywhere.com - Josh
Great Info! Thanks for making this. Most practical and informational video on Switzerland, I've seen so far. I am moving from Minnesota, of the United States to Zurich, in 36 days! Any recommended IT \ International companies?
Brilliant, we're really glad to hear that. Hugo loves to help out expats because he has the long time experience of being one, so we'll ask him to take a look at this comment and weigh-in on it. How does that sound? Thanks for the feedback, Jake!
Hi Jake! Have a look into www.job-room.ch/home/job-seeker (this is a government website) and LinkedIn job adverts, both are excellent starting points for a job search in Zurich. Best of luck!
Informative video for Expat.How about the person who work in Restaurant or hospitality industry,Does English only help.
@@rajengurung9873 In those sectors knowing the local cantonal languages will be a huge bonus, if not a requirement.
@@hugoasilvestre thanks for your reply Sir,SO I can live and work depand on english language.
Very good interview, would love to see you make a video for non EU expats for switzerland
Great suggestion! We'll work on it but it'll go on our new channel, ExpatsEverywhere Explores. - Josh & Kalie
haha winter is not from September to June wtf? I live here and it start getting cold middle of October and starts getting warm in April
from a portuguese perspective, it is.. ;--)
Are there any physician assistant jobs there?
yes, if you're from a EU/EFTA-country and speak german....
thanks a lot
You are most welcome
I glad honest expats make videos like these. Does that imply there are also dishonest expats making videos about the same subject? 😂😊
:-)
I don't want to live in a city where the most exciting thing to do on weekends is to escape to better places. It's like the city itself is saying, 'Please, go have fun somewhere else!' 😂
Most of the people I know habe 60-80000 a year , the taxes and the health care arw very high
Thanks for sharing.
What monthly salary is a minimum do you belive?
@@smeckenjacksson7732 it‘s possible to live with 2000 Fr
@@loveyourself1986 how? An apartment costs 1000-1500chF?
@@loveyourself1986 6000fr is what ive heard if you are alone
thank u 4 this
That's very interesting. I live in Paris and most salaries are aroun 30k lol
can anyone help me to emigrate to switzerland from el salvador
Check out David McNeil from Expat Empire. He might be able to. Tell him ExpatsEverywhere said hello. - Josh & Kalie
This was very helpful, thank you. Good questions and discussion. Funny that the host looks like he’s a grown man in his mid 30’s or something but is dressed as a junior high school kid but I guess that’s just the US...
😁 I'm glad that you think I'm in my mid-30s.
Glad the video was helpful and we appreciate the compliment on our questions and discussion with our interviewee. We hope to have you around the channel more often. - Josh
We call ourselves Immigrants not expats, were like you we’re foreigners and we moved here from Italy. We dont call ourselves expats, but wait are we supposed to? Expat just sounds like an excuse to not call yourself an immigrant
Whatever you like to call yourself makes no difference to us. We go by the general guideline that an expat is short term or temporary and an immigrant is long term or permanent intention. For us personally, we never move with the intention of being somewhere forever or even long term and neither did Hugo. In fact, he's back in Portugal already. - Josh & Kalie
‘Expat’ is a more common term in the UK
@@chriscox5619 And dubai
the Emirates in general*
This paints a bit of a one sided picture. Not everyone by far earns 100k and more here. People should get the illusion out of their heads. Lots and lots of people earn between 70 and 90k. Opportunities are here. Especially when starting your own business, Switzerland is very friendly towards businesses. And yes, one needs a lot of starting money. It is actually the first 3 month of rent as a despot and then the actual month plus health insurance. Health insurance in Zurich, the basic is currently around 300-330 but do not forget the 2500 francs of copayment and then 10% of every invoice until 700 are payed. It is not easy. child care for 5 days a week, so you can actually work and make money is about 2500 per child, that without a 500-1000 deposit and many other caveats. And that just Zurich. Bern I heard has higher taxes and higher health insurance rates. Lots and lots of people live outside the city and even share flats or houses just to keep cost down. Average rent is 3k and up, 2500 is when you are lucky, there are usually dozens of applicants for a flat of 3k we visited ones. I counted 70 that hour… go figure. Working hours here are 42 a week. Vacation 25 days and depending on the company but usually Swiss people are hard working people.
He is from Portugal. What about living in Portugal by comparison ?
In Portugal, if your salary can pay your roof alone, you're lucky. We are not even talking about food, health, transportation, communications.. etc. Eg: you can earn as low as 500 Euros per month, and still have to pay 5 Euro for a glass of wine in a café (thanks to tourism). Many Portuguese on their 30s 40s live like students in shared flats, even though working for several years. Let alone thinking about having kids..
@@RS-gm1qbthank you for sharing.
@@RS-gm1qb who told you that?
@@kappa2ou3 I have a mind of my own. Born and raised there. Left with 35 yo
@@RS-gm1qb E deves pensar que és o único. Então podias me explicar como temos conseguido comprar casa , carro e outras coisas ao longo dos séculos com esses ordenados miserável e os outros Europeus com os “ tais bons ordenados “ têm conseguido comprar menos?.
Hi Hugo,
I'm an 18 year old from Sri Lanka.
I'm an artist and love to live among nature and clean air.
My Dad passed away four months ago. I'm living with my mom. I have no brothers or sisters. My mom wants to sell our home and move to another country. I want to live and work there. I love to move to Switzerland because its a very peaceful country.
If you know of anyone who can help me , please let me know.
strange he didnt say anything about his revenue with his partner
Would it be worth moving for 4500chf/month?
That's really hard to give you advice on your very personal situation. However, what we can tell you that 4,500 per month is well below the average salary for Zurich and if it's not including a housing stipend and doesn't cover other expense, you might want to reconsider or renegotiate.
@@ExpatsEverywhere ok. Thank you for reply.
I have a Good offer from a compamy in My own country, i Also have People here who i could live with close to work so i wouldnt have any issues with expensive apartments or stress about that.
But switzerland seems to be a place i would Love to live in but i got an advice to Wait and get more experience first to be able for a higher salary so i could afford to live an Enjoy life a bit more there.
nope. that's like in deep porverty
@@qiancaotang really? ☹️ I have No clue how much the cost of living for 1 person/month is so. But ive heard some say, that you can save 1500chf/month after all Costs. Of apartment are limited to 1000chf
@@smeckenjacksson7732 you should definitely inform yourself better. It doesn't seem that you'll even get a bedroom for 1000CHF let alone a decent apartment. I am expressing purely my opinion, I'm not after a luxury life but for me the acceptable offers start at 1600CHF for a 1 bed flat.
As you will be earning a Swiss salary and paying relatively low taxes, it would be nice if you also spent your money in Switzerland and not carry your money to Germany or Italy. Support the local economy. Thank you very much.
Great video, thanks a lot! How difficult is it to get a corporate job if you only speak English (but have corporate experience in an English speaking country)…?
Thanks, Alex. We're not sure exactly but we can ask Hugo if you'd like. Let us know.
@@ExpatsEverywhere that would be great many thanks!!
“Yes, depends on where and which sector and the more experience the better.” - Hugo
@@ExpatsEverywhere thanks!!
@@alexmuller702 your welcome.
Everything about wages a is a lot exagerated and weather things are BS
That math doesn't make any sense, and he is over selling. The first expense is tax, so address that then we're talking!
America has tax health insurance house tax etc
Salary look 4or5 thousand, but they withdraw a lot that nothing left in my hand, not enough money to go to restaurants. Government may rich, but people are poor. Therefore restaurants are almost empty most of the time and Swiss are very very very cold
Ridiculous. Seems you’ve never been in Switzerland pal.
What do you mean with Swiss are very very very cold?
@@RS-gm1qb boring
i'm interested in there
Good stuff! Keep us posted.
Note everyone if you're Outsider.
Non swiss.
You'll always get lower salary than the native swiss.
$1000 less but it will be less
Thanks for sharing.
sorry, but this is nonsense. There is no "lower-salary-for-foreigner-scheme". But the reality is, that jobs are paid by qualification (like everywhere) and if you don't speak german, you have to do lower paid jobs....
Verwöhnte Expats😅
10.000 im Monat? Ihr fragt ob das reicht???😂
Klar es reichen auch Fr. 6000.-
Es kommt auf die Ansprüche an
Lot of inaccurate and wrong information there. Not surprising coming from an expat… the « 1/3 rule » is absolutely ridiculous.
What is more accurate then? I would like to learn a more accurate number. Thank you.
@@RS-gm1qb check the official statistics if you want real facts and figures. Not a newbie who just arrived in a foreign country.