Switzerland attractive to highly qualified workers

The OECD has investigated how attractive its members states are for highly qualified workers, students and entrepreneurs. This took into account indicators such as quality of opportunities, income and tax, future prospects, family environment, skills environment, inclusiveness and quality of life. The conditions of entry and residence for prospective migrants were also considered.

The results show that Switzerland is a magnet for highly qualified workers, students and entrepreneurs. In the ranking of highly qualified workers, the country claims third place out of all OECD countries, with only Australia and Sweden ranked higher. For students, Switzerland is even the most attractive country of all OECD countries. It beat Norway at number two and Germany in third. In the ranking for entrepreneurs, Switzerland was placed third behind Canada and New Zealand.

“Many factors outside migration legislation influence the attractiveness of a country,” said Stefano Scarpetta, Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs at the OECD. “For specialists, how quickly visas are granted is a key factor, but the conditions for partners and children are also important to many highly qualified workers.”

The OECD study is the first comprehensive tool to capture, in a multidimensional framework, strengths and weaknesses of OECD countries regarding their capacity to attract and retain three specific categories of talented migrants. It was compiled with the support of the Bertelsmann Foundation.