r/Switzerland

Image 1 — I chose the south side of the Alps for the lifestyle, but the jobs chose the north
Image 2 — I chose the south side of the Alps for the lifestyle, but the jobs chose the north
Image 3 — I chose the south side of the Alps for the lifestyle, but the jobs chose the north
▲ 14 r/Switzerland+1 crossposts

I chose the south side of the Alps for the lifestyle, but the jobs chose the north

I've been living in Lugano for almost a year, and I really like it here. Life is relaxed and peaceful. But whenever I look for a job, most of the roles I'm interested in seem to be on the other side of the Alps.

Do I really have to think about moving every time I want to change jobs?

I added up the new job postings my own project picked up across Switzerland last week, from 5–9 October:

  • Zürich had 3,917, compared with 270 in all of Ticino. That's about 14.5 times as many.
  • Ticino had 41–67 new postings a day. Zürich had 722–846.
  • Nationwide, the biggest categories were finance, healthcare, office/admin and IT infrastructure. Plenty going on, just not necessarily close to home.

Obviously, this doesn't cover every vacancy, and I haven't adjusted the numbers for population. I know Zürich is much bigger. Still, seeing the gap laid out like this is a bit depressing.

People living in Ticino, how do you make it work? Does anyone here commute to Zürich regularly? I struggle to imagine spending four or five hours travelling every day. Have you found good opportunities locally, or a hybrid job that lets you stay here? I'd be interested to hear what's worked for you.

u/LeoZhong2026 — 4 days ago

Camera inside of a mens toilet, Arena Cinema Sihlcity ZH?!

What is up with this? Womens toilet does not have a single camera, but mens do? (I am a woman, my boyfriend took this picture in his WC). I'm pretty sure this is illegal. Can I report this somewhere or am I mistaken?

u/Caller_ID_Unknown — 12 days ago

Is it appropriate to give my RAV advisor a chocolate as I deregister?

My RAV instructor was extremely kind as I finished my PhD a couple of months ago. Gave me a lot of support, helped me with documentation etc. I’m from the UK where it’s okay to gift something *SMALL* to those who have helped you, but I’m unsure on the ethics of giving something to a government official. I don’t want to get them into trouble or sound weird, I just want to truly show my appreciation for the support.

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u/My-gel-is-leaking — 11 days ago

Theft from our car while visiting Fort de Chillon – be careful if you park in the area on 04.10.2026

Well, where do I even start…

This morning, I received an email with a nice offer to visit the Fort de Chillon Museum. I mentioned it to my wife and we thought, why not make a family day out of it with our son? We also invited my sister and my niece, who is one year older than our son.

After a little over an hour’s drive, we arrived and found the area already packed with people, with almost no parking spaces available. We turned around towards Villeneuve and eventually found a spot at the far end of the parking area near the castle.

We got the children out of their car seats, grabbed our bags, I locked the car, and we headed to the fort.

About 1.5 hours later, we came back to the car. As we approached it, I immediately noticed something strange: the passenger door wasn’t completely closed.

My wife panicked and asked me to check the pocket behind the driver’s seat because she had left her wallet there.

I checked. The wallet was gone.

We emptied our backpacks, hoping that maybe she had taken it with her without remembering. Nothing.
That was when we realized that someone had entered our car and stolen the wallet.

Inside was a significant amount of cash, both my wife’s Swiss and German ID documents, her bank cards, her and our son’s insurance cards, as well as photos and other personal belongings.

I immediately called the police. They explained that because there were apparently no visible signs of forced entry, nobody would come to the scene and that we would need to go to the nearest police station to file a report.

I have to admit that I was quite surprised that nobody would come to check for possible cameras or other evidence. I understand that identifying the people responsible for this kind of theft may be difficult, but when you have just lost all of those documents and belongings, it is still extremely frustrating.

So we went to the police station in Villeneuve and filed a report.

Fortunately, after checking our household insurance policy, I found that we have coverage for theft outside the home, with a CHF 200 deductible. I still need to check exactly what is covered and up to what limits.

Beyond the money and all the administrative hassle that now awaits us, the whole experience was simply awful. When we got home, our 2½-year-old son, who probably didn’t really understand what had happened but clearly felt our stress, wouldn’t leave my side. He finally fell asleep around 9:45 pm after crying several times.

I’m not really looking for anything specific with this post. First of all, I just needed to get the frustration off my chest. But more importantly, if this post can prevent the same thing from happening to someone else, then at least something useful will come out of it.

The police told us that thefts from vehicles are relatively common in this area. They also mentioned that thieves may use methods or devices that can interfere with remote vehicle locking.

So if you park around Chillon — or really anywhere busy and touristy — don’t just press the button on your key and walk away. Physically check that your doors are actually locked, and don’t leave valuables inside the car.

And just in case:

If anyone happened to find a pink/beige Calvin Klein women’s wallet somewhere around Chillon/Villeneuve, or saw anything suspicious today, Sunday 4 October 2026, between approximately 12:50 pm and 2:30 pm, I would be extremely grateful for any information.
A police report has been filed.
And most importantly: please be careful with your cars and belongings if you’re visiting the area.

u/AirLate6579 — 10 days ago

Buying an older house in Switzerland worth the risk?

I’m 31, Swiss, born and raised here, and living in the St. Gallen / Eastern Switzerland area. My partner and I are looking to buy a single-family house.

The problem is that newer or nicely renovated houses are often very expensive, so I’m increasingly considering buying an older house that needs renovation.

I’m a trained electrician, although I haven’t worked in the trade for several years. I could do some work myself, but I work full-time in a management position and don’t have enough time to take on a full renovation.

My main concern is that an older house could become a financial black hole due to hidden issues such as asbestos, moisture in the basement, roof or structural problems, old heating systems, poor insulation or unexpected costs once renovations start.

I’m not looking at a specific property yet, but I’d like to understand the risks better.

For those who bought and renovated an older house in Switzerland:

  • Did the renovation stay close to budget?
  • What problems did you underestimate?
  • What would you definitely have inspected before buying?
  • Would you buy an older house again?
  • Would you recommend bringing in a building expert or architect before making an offer?

I’m also wondering whether building new might actually be more predictable, although I know very little about permits, zoning and the overall process in Switzerland.

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u/FrenchyBoy_ — 11 days ago
▲ 7 r/Switzerland+1 crossposts

B permit: Temporary 5-month work trip abroad + December holidays. Any issues?

Hey everyone,
Looking for some advice from anyone who has navigated this with the migration office (specifically Canton Aargau, but any experience helps).
I’m on a Swiss B permit and trying to confirm if taking annual leave in December carries any hidden risks for my permit status. I want to avoid booking flights and then getting surprised by my permit being revoked—especially since losing a permit resets all accumulated years towards a C permit / naturalization back to zero.
Here is my timeline for this calendar year:
-Spent ~2 weeks abroad in early January.
-Sent on an official, temporary 5-month work assignment abroad by my Swiss employer (May to Sept). I paid Swiss taxes, health insurance, kept my apartment, and remained on my Swiss contract the entire time.
-Returned to Switzerland in September and have been back living/working here as normal.
-Planning to take ~3 weeks of standard holiday abroad in December.
Because of the 5-month work assignment, my total physical days spent inside Switzerland this calendar year will end up right around ~175–180 days.
Does anyone have experience with this combination?

  1. Does a work-mandated rotation abroad combined with normal holiday time put my B permit or C permit continuity at risk?
  2. Has anyone in a similar position ever had the migration office query their overall days outside CH when renewing their permit or applying for a C permit later on?
    Appreciate any insights!
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u/EfficientCockroach30 — 8 days ago
▲ 63 r/Switzerland+1 crossposts

Diese Zusatzversicherung ist ein Betrug.

Ich habe eine Zusatzversicherung, bei welcher die Leistungen garnicht eingefordert werden können.

Die Versicherung bestätigte mir die Deckung von 70 % bis 10'000 CHF/Jahr bis zum 25. Lebensjahr und forderte mich zur Einreichung des Kostenvoranschlags auf, ohne eine Karenzfrist zu erwähnen.

Erst nach dem Begin der Behandlung bekam ich die Nachricht mit der Karenzfrist.

Wenn nun eine 3-jährige Karenzfrist bis zum 01.01.2027
gelten soll, schliesst dies die Leistung für meinen Jahrgang 2002 per Definition vollständig aus. Eine Versicherung bzw. ein Leistungsversprechen, das vertraglich von Beginn an gar nicht bezogen werden kann, ist irreführend und aus meiner Sicht Betrug.

Wie sieht ihr das und was kann ich tun, bzw. kann mir jemand weiterhelfen.

Ich bin echt am verzweifeln, da ich mir eine solche Behandlung ohne Krankenkasse garnicht leisten könnte.

Vielen Dank schon einmal und GLG!

u/Quasliah_84 — 13 days ago
▲ 3 r/Switzerland+1 crossposts

EO im Zivi nach dem Studium

Ich habe kurz nach meinem Studienabschluss (master) mit meinem Zivildienst angefangen. Es heisst man hat Anspruch auf den "branchenüblichen Einstiegslohn", wenn man 5 Wochen vor Dienstbeginn die Ausbildung definitiv abgeschlossen hat. Im EO Portal muss man einen Nachweis dafür hochladen.

Die Ausgleichskasse in Zürich schreibt jedoch, dass sie zusätzliche Indikatoren brauchen, dass man anstatt des Dienstes einer Gewerbstätigkeit nachgegangen wäre (Arbeitsvertrag nach dem Zivi, oder Absagen)

Was ist eure Erfahrung? Hat das Diplom gereicht?

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u/ambassador-0 — 14 days ago