My son (b. 1970) who grew up in London and graduated from City University, holds US and Swiss citizenship (he has “settled status” in UK but in fact is employed and lives with his family near San Francisco. He and his 3 kids (ages 11, 16, 18) have Swiss passports; wife does not. He was laid off yesterday by a Japanese bank he’s worked at as head of office for over a decade (before that was with major firms, many, like Lehman Bros, long out of business). He speaks decent French, studied German in school (spent a year at Salem) but doesn’t speak it. Wife has a PhD from Cornell and is qualified to teach neuroscience; she studied German and Spanish but could teach only in English. My question: are there any prospects for them in Zurich?
Welcome to the forum. 
Probably better to look at French speaking Switzerland - Geneva, Lausanne, Neuchatel, Fribourg, etc, if he doesn’t speak German.
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i would say a lot of prospects, these high level jobs don’t need any german, banking all in zurich, research is all in zurich, wife can get research or teaching position at uni, son can get into one of gazillion financial institutions here, no need for french part with enormous taxes and no place to live
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Your kids seem to speak neither German nor French, they might have a hard time here.
Good point, Roxi. At those ages, what would the 16- and 18-year old kids have for options if they only speak English, given that they’ve “aged-out” of the traditional school system? I guess the 18y could apply to uni, but AFAIK many undergrad courses are still taught in German in Zurich.
Also why move? If he/they have lived all their lives in the UK/US why decide to move to Switzerland now? Okay maybe Trump, but if not, why? It’s going to be much more difficult for all of you, especially the kids, moving here if language skills aren’t that good.
Yes.
But remember how everything is “slow” in Switzerland. An open position may be open for weeks to take in CVs, then interviews, 2nd interviews…it may take several months between expressing interest in a job and 1st day of work.
Considering the sense of urgency (fired yesterday, hello Zürich!), Switzerland may be a bit challenging.
Well it is a very cost conscious and contracting market… In the advisory/private banking sector at this stage your son would need to bring a lot more to the table than qualifications and experience - clients!!! That is what it comes down to (although of course not officially, since that would be illegal ;-))
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Seems that they are more fluent in French than in German. French-speaking Switzerland would be better. Although the banking hub is Zurich, the international and bigger banks based out of Zurich they don’t necessarily require German, and to live in Zurich you don’t need to speak German. Pharma is also a lucrative option.
Just apply and see, there is no harm. Have a friend considering to move with his family from Dubai to Geneva. He already gave his 3rd interview to a company in Geneva, and contacted me for advise already a few times. So, your friend should just apply to places, if he secures a job, then he can weigh in on the pros and cons and decide if the move is worthy or not.
Good points all. The 16 & 18 yo went to the Lycée Français in SF. The 18 yo isn’t fluent but doesn’t matter: he’s already booked into an expensive California uni for next year. The 16 yo speaks French. If his dad got a job and moved to Zurich he’d survive. The 11 yo shows signs of turning into a goth teen. What do I know. But she’s young enough to learn Swiss-German. (The kiddo I’m raising speaks native French & English and just finished 1st year German at the French Lycée London. He is getting support at Council expense b/c of autism from a German Speech & Language therapist. But his 12 yo eyes are on Lausanne. I took him to Fribourg (for testing on a project on bilingual autistic children; they tested him in French). I suppose if he chose Fribourg he’d need to be trilingual. I should hope 6 years of secondary school German should be enough.
3 months severance. He has time. I doubt there are jobs in SF. NYC or London maybe. But he is Swiss and the kids are neither clueless nor devoid of a Swiss language. It seemed to me it made sense to speak to Zurich headhunters. I have written in another thread of the 12 yo grandchild I am raising. He identifies as Swiss, is bilingual French-English (I have never spoken to him except in French from birth and he’s always attended French schools). It would have been nice to teach him Aargauer Swiss-German my mum and gran spoke between themselves but I’ve forgotten it all.
If he has time to look for a new job, I’d say why not? It looks like the kids have the basics in either French or German or will be leaving the nest soon. While I’d keep an eye on opportunities in London as well, I know a whole lot of people who have made it in Zurich with a lot less French/German ability than he seems to already have.