Due to the strong franc and the steep US tariffs, many Swiss executives expect local jobs to be relocated to foreign countries.
The study in question, published on October 22nd, was carried out by Deloitte consultancy among 114 chief financial officers (CFO) of every major sector of the Swiss economy.
It shows that 37 percent of respondents “are expecting their company to cut jobs in Switzerland over the coming 12 months, and a similar percentage (35 percent) are anticipating an increase in their headcount abroad, which indicates a shifting of jobs to other countries.”
This development is driven by two causes: one, the strength of the franc against the euro, which impacts Switzerland’s export-oriented industries, and two, the 39-percent tariffs that President Trump has imposed on Swiss imports to the United States.
READ ALSO: US tariffs threaten ‘up to 20,000’ jobs in Switzerland
The trend is already underway
A number of Swiss companies have already began the process of moving their operations – and jobs – abroad, and some are planning to do so.
Among them is the biggest telecommunications operator, Swisscom.
As reported by 20 Minutes news platform, “many Swisscom IT jobs are to be relocated to Latvia and the Netherlands.”
In all, between 1,000 and 1,400 people are expected to be employed in Riga and Rotterdam in the medium term, where salaries are lower than in Switzerland.
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‘No choice but to relocate’
Other businesses are also seriously considering ‘migrating’ their operations to other countries.
These are some of them:
Packsys Global, currently in Rüti (Zurich)
This company produces multi-tonne packaging machines for the beverage, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries.
According to its director Beat Rupp, the company is considering relocating operations to the EU – for example, to Slovakia.
Tofwerk, currently in Thun (Bern)
The company manufactures mass spectrometers – that is, devices for analysing molecules and atoms.
More than 30 percent of Tofwerk’s exports go to the United States.
Its founder, Katrin Fuhrer said that with the 39-percent customs duties imposed on Swiss products, “we should set up our own production facility in the United States.”
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Ypsomed, currently in Burgdorf (Bern)
The medical technology company is advancing its plans to produce half of its goods destined for the United States abroad.
That’s because “with a tariff of 10 to 15 percent [as in the European Union], we might have been able to negotiate with our customers,” said its director, Simon Michel. “But at 39 percent, we have no choice but to relocate part of our production to Germany and North America.”
Thermoplan, currently in Weggis (Lucerne)
Since 1999, the family business has supplied coffee machines to Starbucks for all its branches worldwide. The spare parts are now stuck at US customs.
“Because of this new situation, we are considering moving production in the United States,” said company CEO Adrian Steiner.
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What about pharmaceutical giants?
Among the biggest ‘losers’ in the US tariff fiasco are Roche and Novartis which, according to media reports, “are responding by investing heavily in their production capacity in the United States.”
However, it is not clear at this point whether any jobs will be moved to the US at the detriment of the Switzerland-based workforce.
What impact will this ‘industrial migration’ have on Switzerland?
If jobs are moved abroad, the logical effect would be an increase in unemployment.
But not only.
“This type of relocation could ultimately have an impact on the growth potential of the Swiss economy,” said UBS economist Maxime Botteron.
The bank’s economists are now forecasting a 1-percent increase in Switzerland’s gross domestic product for 2026, compared to the 1.5 percent expected before the US tariffs were announced.
