Ask a company — any company — in Switzerland why it chose to do business there and chances are one of the top three answers you’ll get will be: “The work force.”

Switzerland, which is bordered by France, Germany, Italy and Austria, in what’s widely known as the “heart of Europe,” is a magnet for people of all nationalities.

People come to Switzerland for a host of reasons: the nationwide high quality of life, the country’s easy acceptance of expatriates, the proximity to the rest of Europe, the availability of international schools, etc. They stay for the same reasons and more: the great jobs sustained by Switzerland’s growing clusters in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, information technology, chemicals, finance, medical technology, etc.

Switzerland’s well-educated work force is linguistically gifted. Many Swiss can switch effortlessly among two or three of the country’s four official languages — German, French, Italian and Romansh — and many speak English as well.

Citrix, a Florida-based software company, has placed its European headquarters in Schaffhausen, where 13 nationalities are represented among its 35 employees. As a sales and marketing operation for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Schaffhausen facility represents its clientele.

“Switzerland is a neutral concept, culturally speaking,” said Stefan Sjostrom, vice president for Citrix’s Europe, Middle East and Africa operations. “It’s important that I have a good mix of German-speaking people, Italian-speaking people, French-speaking people, etc. We want to make sure we’ve got the right setup to serve our customers.”

Cilag, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, operates facilities in Zug, Neuchatel, Schaffhausen and Baar, with 1,800 employees, many of whom are immigrants.

“Everybody is happy here,” said Schmid Heinz, general manager of Cilag. “We have more than 20 nationalities, so of course it’s a challenge to get the work permits for all of the workers, but we’ve never had a problem.”

A bilateral agreement between Switzerland and the European Union eases entry stipulations for European foreigners coming into Switzerland, so the task of attaining work permits is even easier.

Working in One Country, Living in Another

Switzerland’s high-tech environment breeds a high-tech work force, which greatly benefits companies such as Medtronic, a diversified medical technology company based in the Geneva region.

“If you’re operating in a high-tech environment like we are, you can make products extremely efficiently in Switzerland,” said Francois Monory, manufacturing director for Medtronic.

The company’s 550-member work force in Switzerland includes 55 nationalities.

The Geneva region borders France, so its labor pool extends into that country. French nationals are motivated to accept jobs in Switzerland because of agreements between the two countries that protect French workers from tax penalties for living in one country and working in another.

Similarly, German workers in the border canton of Schaffhausen pay taxes as if they were working in Germany, and suffer no negative consequences for living in one country and working in another.

The California-based Autodesk, a 2-D and 3-D design products firm, established a facility in Neuchatel in 1992, where it expected to employ no more than 70 workers.

Today, the company has a Neuchatel work force of 200, largely because the type of high-tech workers they need are readily available in Switzerland.

“For all kinds of jobs, you can find the profile in Switzerland,” said Don MacMillan, senior director of operations in Europe.

Nevertheless, within its work force, Autodesk has 27 nationalities. When recruitment outside Switzerland becomes necessary, local officials provide easy assistance. The availability of international schools helps attract many foreigners.

“The town has done a fantastic job of easing foreigners into the community,” MacMillan said.

Phillip Morris International’s European headquarters is in Lausanne, where 1,300 workers representing 60 nationalities are employed.

David Davies, senior vice president of corporate affairs, credits Switzerland’s high quality of life with the fact that recruiting foreign workers is easy.

“It is an enormously pleasant place to be,” he said. “The quality of life in Switzerland is an enormous attraction when you are seeking to recruit people to come here, or when you are transferring people across various markets.”

In fact, Davies sums up Switzerland well: an enormously pleasant place to be, and to do business.

- Ann Morris