Employee Relocation Switzerland for HR and Global Mobility Teams

Why employee relocation in Switzerland needs a defined process

Switzerland's residence and work permit system, cantonal registration rules and housing market vary by canton and by nationality of the employee, which is why a process built for one relocation rarely scales cleanly to the next one. A member of an EU/EFTA state and a third-country national follow different permit pathways, and quota or approval conditions can differ from canton to canton.

For HR and global mobility teams running several transfers a year, the practical risk is not any single step but inconsistency: one assignee gets a smooth start, another spends weeks in a hotel because housing was not lined up before arrival, and a third's dependants are left without a school place. A defined process gives every case the same checklist, the same reporting rhythm and the same point of accountability, regardless of which consultant handles it day to day.

What a corporate relocation programme covers

A relocation programme brings together the steps an employee and their family need to complete before and after arrival. The exact scope is agreed with your HR team in advance, so it can be scaled to a single senior hire or standardised across a recurring intra-company transfer programme.

• •Work and residence permit application, coordinated with the employer and the cantonal migration authority
• •Legitimation card procedures for staff of international organisations, where applicable
• •Housing search covering temporary accommodation on arrival and a permanent home
• •Registration with the commune of residence and related administrative formalities
• •Guidance on health insurance choices and coordination with an independent insurance broker
• •Support opening a Swiss bank account
• •School and childcare search for accompanying children
• •Orientation to the destination city: transport, services, day-to-day logistics
• •Support for an accompanying partner, including local job-search resources and introductions to networks

Immigration and work permits for transferred staff

Immigration is usually the step with the least flexibility on timing: an employee's start date depends on the permit being in place, and the requirements differ for EU/EFTA nationals compared with employees from third countries. Our immigration specialists prepare the file with the employer, track it with the relevant cantonal authority, and flag anything that could affect the planned start date early enough for HR to adjust.

For assignments and intra-company transfers, we also help HR and the employee understand how the permit interacts with the length and nature of the assignment, so the choice of permit fits the actual role rather than being decided by default.

Housing, schooling and family support for accompanying dependants

An employee who arrives without confirmed housing, or whose children do not yet have a school place, is distracted from the role they were transferred to do. We search for housing that matches the employee's budget and the family's needs, handle viewings and lease negotiation, and manage the handover into the property.

Where children are relocating, we help identify suitable public or private school options and support the enrolment process. Where a partner is relocating too, we point them to the practical resources for a local job search, language courses and professional or social networks, since a partner's difficulty settling in is one of the more common reasons an international assignment is cut short.

Reporting and account management for HR and global mobility teams

Companies managing several relocations at once need visibility without having to ask for it case by case. We assign a dedicated point of contact for your account, agree a reporting format with your HR or global mobility team, and provide status updates against the milestones that matter to you: permit filed, housing confirmed, school secured, employee settled.

Every file is handled under professional secrecy, and the same confidentiality applies whether we are supporting one executive relocation or a programme covering dozens of transfers a year across your Swiss entities.

Scaling a relocation programme across multiple cantons

A company relocating staff into more than one Swiss location needs a partner who can operate consistently across cantons, not a different contact and a different process for each city. We work across 26 cantons from our offices in Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich, which lets your global mobility team apply one programme, one reporting format and one point of accountability regardless of where the employee is transferring to.