Zurich lifestyle keeps expatriates happy

Anne Shaughnessy outside of her downtown Zurich office swissinfo.ch

Thousands of non-Swiss who have made Switzerland their home play a vital role in the running of the Swiss economy.

Many have taken a leading place in the Swiss business world and among them is United States-born Anne Shaughnessy, a project manager with Switzerland’s biggest bank, UBS.

Born in 1964 and raised in Massachusetts, Shaughnessy studied in the mid-western metropolis of Chicago. After working for a couple of years in Austria, she returned to New York where she first worked with UBS.

Shaughnessy met swissinfo at one of Zurich’s more fashionable restuarants, the Cantinetta Antinori, close to the city’s chic shopping street, Bahnhofstrasse. While enjoying her delicately cooked lake fish, she explained that the job with UBS was what had originally brought her to Switzerland.

“I wanted to come to Europe and I was working for UBS in New York when there was an opportunity to take a position over here,” explained Shaughnessy.

Working in the medieval splendour of Zurich’s old town certainly brings home how far Shaughnessy has moved from her position on Wall Street.

Shaughnessy is an energetic and vibrant woman who enjoys her professional life to the full. Working as a top project manager within Switzerland’s biggest bank, she certainly faces some interesting and challenging tasks on a day-to-day basis.

“I’m a project manager in a business technology centre,” said Shaughnessy. “So we’re the interface between the front office and IT.”

Working in Zurich is a far cry from working in New York but Shaughnessy believes the benefits are obvious.

“It’s a high standard of living here, the salaries are good and the vacations are great, especially for Americans,” Shaughnessy said. “The pension is also very good and the apartments have a very high standard.”

However, there are some differences that she’s noted in the way business is done in Switzerland compared with in the US.

“I think it’s a bit rigid here…I think you can jump around industries more in the US, but that’s changing more here since the merger of the two large banks and other factors,” Shaughnessy pointed out.

Of course, from time to time, most expatriates think of going home, but Anne Shaughnessy has already been living here for eight years, after originally planning to stay in Zurich for just four years.

“Returning to the US would mean I would have to start from scratch both professionally and personally,” explained Shaughnessy. “I’ve basically made my career here and I have lots of good friends here.”

Generally speaking, Anne Shaughnessy had an easier ride than many other expatriates when she moved to Switzerland. She already spoke German and UBS helped smooth over the worst of the administrative obstacles that face other foreigners.

“I didn’t have too many problems as the bank took care of a lot of the administrative details. I also spoke German and I had a few friends already that I knew from New York.”

Anne Shaughnessy is obviously one expatriate who thrives on the business she is in and in the city where she has made her home.

“I think there are a lot of opportunities here and I think it’s a very good place to be,” Shaughnessy concluded.

by Tom O’Brien