Wealthy expats have long been attracted to Switzerland, and especially Geneva, for a long time partly because of tax breaks that reduce their payable taxes (most notably income and wealth tax). There have recently been calls from locals that are unhappy with the growing number of rich foreigners living in the country to abolish these tax breaks.
This unease in the system has caused many expats to reconsider moving to Geneva, which has had an impact on high-end property prices in the city, with the majority of house prices falling 1% to an average of around 2.6 million francs (£1.8 million). There have also been reports of the price of houses valued in excess of 6 million francs falling by 25% in the last year.
Earlier this year the Michael Page Swiss Job Index reported that there is a high demand for staff in Switzerland, especially in the Management and Organisation, Medical and Financial sectors. Switzerland is also a magnet for short term expat placements as work assignments that last less than 90 days do not require a visa. Geneva is home to more than 900 multinational companies that currently employs thousands of workers.
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