On to create up to 900 new jobs this year

At present, On is seeking to hire 300 new employees in Switzerland alone. This is according to Marc Maurer and Martin Hoffmann, CEO and CFO respectively at the running shoe and apparel manufacturer in an interview with the newspaper “Aargauer Zeitung”. On a global basis, the company intends to create somewhere between 800 and 900 new jobs. It currently employs 1,000 staff. In China, On operates seven proprietary businesses, with Tokyo and London slated as its next destinations. New offices are to be opened this year in Portland in the USA, Berlin in Germany, and Shanghai in China.

However, there are no plans for On to leave Switzerland behind completely. On the contrary: The company plans to move into its new headquarters in Zurich in the near future, where space for 1,000 employees will be available. With a new flagship store also set to be built in Zurich after New York, this represents “a clear commitment to our Swiss roots”, Hoffmann claims. “We are a global company, but Switzerland is our home”, he adds.

The company has succeeded in growing in Switzerland thanks to exceptional universities and a wealth of specialists. However, Maurer does see room for improvement in the third country quotas, which he described as being partially on the low side. “In Berlin we have several hundred employees, but many of them could be in Zurich”, he comments, before moving on to explain that start-ups in particular need a voice in the world of politics, while large corporations already have one.

The 40 percent slump in the share price since the high-profile IPO in September of last year is not overly concerning to Hoffmann: “In the end, it’s the business that counts. The share price will be corrected in time. The short-term price trend is less relevant for us”, he explains. On has new designs in the pipeline, including for its subscription model that features more sustainable, recyclable running shoes for a circular economy.