ZURICH Many foreign companies say they are limiting plans to invest in Switzerland as they await implementation of the February initiative against mass immigration. A survey by the Zurich-based Swiss Economic Institute (KOF) on 25 April revealed that 13% of the 2,700 firms surveyed reported reduced confidence in investing in Switzerland.
Although few companies have altered their investment or staffing plans for 2014, around 6% of them said they intend to make reductions in 2015 and perhaps more in 2016 as a result of the initiative. “Firms with a higher proportion of foreign employees will be more likely to reduce investment and to hire fewer staff than previously planned,” said KOF. Companies in the construction sector are more likely to consider reductions than firms in the industrial or service sectors.
In a separate announcement on the same day, the Conference of Cantonal Directors of Public Economics (CDEP) said it registered a decline in 2013 of new foreign companies locating to various cantons, leading to an 11.2 percent loss of jobs over the previous year. CDEP spokesman Christoph Niederberger said that the drop was “insignificant” compared to the previous year, and attributed the decline to the strong Swiss franc and uncertainty regarding reform of the corporate tax code.
Bern has three years to come up with measures to implement the February initiative in a way that does not penalize foreign companies and further strain relations with the European Union.
