Contract rates in Switzerland for UK citzens

[NotAllThere]

Denner for cheap booze. Don't drink Feldschlossen - hangover in a tin. The only decent Swiss beers, I've found, are those from Appenzeller and Ticino.

Please negotiate hard - I don't want any pressure on my rates...

[stek]

Actually it isn't really that expensive when you're here. It's only expensive if you go in the chic expensive restaurants or boutiques in the middle of Zürich. When you live here you just go for beers in town, or go to the cheap restaurants out of town. I buy a lot of stuff in Germany where it's dirt cheap, and petrol in Switzerland is actually the same price than in Germany. So you can avoid a lot of the "expensiveness".

Yeah even in the Migros at HbF the Leffe Blonde's were same price as here and a 500ml tin of Feldschlossen only a quid or so.

[BlasterBates]

Actually it isn't really that expensive when you're here. It's only expensive if you go in the chic expensive restaurants or boutiques in the middle of Zürich. When you live here you just go for beers in town, or go to the cheap restaurants out of town. I buy a lot of stuff in Germany where it's dirt cheap, and petrol in Switzerland is actually the same price than in Germany. So you can avoid a lot of the "expensiveness".

Cheap hotels are 80 CHF a night. There are few of these around on the edge of Zürich.

[stek]

Thanks for that Stek. It looks like I have to aim a bit higher although I suspect your skills are higher valued (me being in databases).

Whilst on this subject, how did you find Switzerland in terms of flying over there, living / accommodation? And roughly what did you walk away with as a percentage after paying for everything?

I'm never contracted there, still hoping!

Spent some time in Zürich recently, easy and cheap flight on Swiss from Manchester, hotel at Mövenpick (not far from Opfikon where the banks are) was £200 quid for two nights and was A1. Dunno if it feasible to stay there rather than rent somewhere. My bud who worked there had a flatshare for 650CFH/mo.

Food and beer is expensive, eight quid a pint, most meals 20-30 quid a pop. Migros and Coop are not bad at all, with the exception of fresh meat, three times the price here.

Tax and health insurance reckon on 25-30% of your gross. Other in the know will know better though.

[BlasterBates]

I maybe overestimating actually. It used to be that. In fact rates have been chopped quite a lot, and with CHF being very high I suspect probably 600-800 might be actually more like the range you might expect. They can attract European contractors with lower rates than they could last year.

I would say anything above 600 CHF would be well worth considering. The tax is very good here, and if you look around you can find reasonably priced flats, just outside Zürich. It is expensive but you can save and what you save in terms of the appreciated Franc more than outweighs your living costs.

If you were receiving 800 CHF a day 3 or 4 years ago this was equivalent to £ 363 a day, a 600 CHF is now worth £420 a day. For accomodation you can find somewhere 800-1000CHF a month. I pay 1100 CHF for my apartment.

[hotkee]

I was recently chasing a role in CH, offering 960CFH a day. I do Unix hardware Virtualisation, AIX/Solaris LPAR/LDOM, none of that crappy Vmware ESX stuff...

Beware though, I've seen some roles on JS at 400CHF demanding some super-list of skills, that's poverty level given the high food and accommodation prices...

Thanks for that Stek. It looks like I have to aim a bit higher although I suspect your skills are higher valued (me being in databases).

Whilst on this subject, how did you find Switzerland in terms of flying over there, living / accommodation? And roughly what did you walk away with as a percentage after paying for everything?

[stek]

I was recently chasing a role in CH, offering 960CFH a day. I do Unix hardware Virtualisation, AIX/Solaris LPAR/LDOM, none of that crappy Vmware ESX stuff...

Beware though, I've seen some roles on JS at 400CHF demanding some super-list of skills, that's poverty level given the high food and accommodation prices...

[hotkee]

The rates in Switzerland are roughly 700 - 1000 CHF per day. If you get above 800 you're doing well.

Phew - thanks for that.
Been offered 600 in past and today by an agent - said no thanks.
600 + accommodation + flights I would take probably? !

[BlasterBates]

The rates in Switzerland are roughly 700 - 1000 CHF per day. If you get above 800 you're doing well.

[hotkee]

Is there a guide to the market somewhere to suggest what might be good contract rate per skillset in Switzerland (for UK citizen) ?