Big Tech in Zurich: Is the Silicon Limmat Valley Coming? – Tsüri.ch # MirSindTsüri
The big IT companies have been in Zurich for a long time. But the latest expansion plans by Google and Facebook and the arrival of Zalando are triggering hopes and fears. The city could develop into a second Silicon Valley. One thing is certain: the shortage of IT specialists is enormous. Small and medium-sized businesses cannot keep up with the wages of the big ones, but they have other advantages.
November 07, 2021
A slide like in a children’s playground, a bouldering wall, a “water lounge” with aquariums and bathtub: if you google the Zurich agency of Google, well, you see pictures of a world that looks more like leisure than work.
The group has over 4,000 employees here at its largest location outside the USA. They come not only for the in-house fun offer, but also for the money that can be earned here as a young IT talent. And the group will continue to expand vigorously in Zurich: In 2023, a third location is to open at Stauffacher after the Hürlimann area and Europaallee, like the one NZZ reported in the summer.
Facebook, which has just announced the development of its Metaverse, also wants to double its workforce in Zurich: from 150 to 300 employees, like Watson writes. And then there is the German online mail order company Zalando. Again Day indicator reported, the company will be renting a space in the Prime Tower from 2022 to promote the development of a digital changing room there.
Amazon and Microsoft have been around for a long time anyway, and so are Apple is always looking for IT specialists for an unspecified location in Zurich. Big Tech is also present on the Limmat, so present that some already have one new Silicon Valley see pulling up.
What makes Zurich attractive for big companies is that there is a relatively high density of clever people here.
Dorian Selz, Squirro
High density of clever people
But that’s an exaggeration, says Dorian Selz. He founded Local.ch in 2004, is currently the managing director of the start-up Squirro and has seen the development of the industry first hand over the past 20 years: “There will be no new Silicon Valley in Switzerland,” he explains: “Zurich is not a hub in the sense of business start-ups, but in the sense of a technology focus.
There would be capital here, says Selz. But compared to the USA, the sums invested here are crumbs: “In addition, Switzerland is not a big market, you have to get out of the country pretty quickly when it comes to distribution. But what makes Zurich attractive for the big companies IS that there is a relatively high density of clever people here. And good people attract good people. “
The reason for the high density of clever people can be traced back to three letters: ETH. The university enjoys an excellent reputation and has the necessary know-how, for example in the field of virtual reality, which is currently one of the most sought-after projects due to projects such as the Metaverse. The talents trained here are taken over by the companies with a kiss, as are start-ups from the ETH environment.
Around 400 spin-off companies have been founded since 1996, the ETH media office explains on request. Among them is Fision AG, whose 3D software is to form the basis for Zalando’s virtual changing rooms. Google Maps is also largely based on the work of Swiss IT specialists who were taken over by Google Zurich in 2006, says Dorian Selz. And the face recognition software from Apple was developed with Swiss know-how.
The companies are expanding, and so is the ETH
At ETH people are happy about the attention of tech companies. You benefit from “that Zurich’s radiance as a high-tech location is increasing thanks to international technology companies such as Facebook and Google,” explains the media office on request. The attractiveness of the ETH is increasing all over the world, the innovation is being promoted: “In the end, this is entirely in the interests of the ETH.” In parallel to the IT companies, capacities are also being expanded at the university.
In the last ten years, the number of new enrollments in the computer science bachelor’s degree has risen from around 150 to 420, explains the media office, in the master’s courses from 145 to 514. In parallel, there have been new master’s courses and advanced training courses in cyber security and data in recent years Science.
The wage expectations for developers are often brutal
Kaspar Gertsch, co-founder of Deteo
And yet there is a huge staff shortage in Silicon Limmattal. There are hardly any companies that are not looking for IT specialists. This also includes SMEs or administrations that want to advance their digitization. And the big ones made the shortage even worse for the little ones, it is said again and again. Because they pay so high wages that start-ups or SMEs could not keep up.
Interns on Facebook alone get 8,000 francs NZZ researched, on Google the monthly wage is often over 11,000 francs. Dorian Selz also complained about his suffering to him Daily indicator: Medium-sized companies such as could not keep up with the wages of the big ones, start-ups in the start-up phase could quickly only recruit from family and friends.
Family atmosphere or CHF 350,000
“The wage expectations for developers are often brutal,” says Kaspar Gertsch. He is one of the founders of Denteo, a start-up that has developed appointment booking software for dental practices. But he finds a lot of staff, he explains: “We are not necessarily in direct competition with companies like Google. As a small company, the human aspects are just as important to us as technical skills. For example, people who are primarily interested in technical problems, who want to bury themselves deeply in engineering challenges without worrying about business value, are perhaps better off with larger companies ».
While the big ones pay significantly more, of course – Gertsch has heard of good Google employees who earn 350,000 francs a year – a start-up can just as easily have a familiar atmosphere and the prospect of taking on responsibility within the company: “I suppose sometimes that you are more in your role on Facebook, Google and so on. “
This is also confirmed by Selz: “It is no longer what it used to be. The work at these large corporations is very structured. But that’s a natural development: a company with 50,000 exciting employees is organized differently than one with 1,000. For really ambitious young people there are actually many more jobs than going to Google, Facebook, Amazon or one of the other big players. “
The move as an opportunity
The most difficult thing is to recruit gender-diverse recruits, says Gertsch: “Well-trained women in IT are rare and in great demand. They also know that and are often very self-confident in the recruiting process. We women also often got lost during the application process to Google. ” So far, only one employee has been lured away from him, he says.
But that is a common phenomenon. Some companies also employ well-trained IT specialists from abroad who then work remotely from home, often from Eastern Europe. At Denteo this is only possible to a limited extent, says Gertsch: “We sometimes work with freelancers from the Czech Republic who support us. But we do not see it at the moment that we can create collaboration and magic through remote employees, death happens in the office, through shared experiences and face-to-face communication. And that is important because we are developing a company where a lot is still being created. “
Gertsch also sees a great opportunity in the arrival of large IT companies: “This also brings a lot of people to Zurich. And after two or three years, they may no longer be in the mood for purely financial gain. You want something else in life. That could then also be an opportunity for companies like us. “
Meanwhile, the well-trained IT specialists in Eastern Europe and the EU market access there are becoming more and more interesting for large companies: As Watson writes, Facebook will significantly expand its presence in Europe. Far more than Zurich, the group looks to the east of the continent. Maybe it will soon be called Silicon Moldautal instead of Silicon Limmattal.