The Responsibility Vacuum

the responsibility vacuum

Who Actually Onboards a Foreigner Into Switzerland? We Tracked It.

Every newcomer asks the same quiet question.

“Who is responsible for explaining Switzerland to me?”

We spent the last 60 days mapping the answer. Interviewing newcomers, HR teams, relocation providers, municipal staff, insurers, and reviewing public data across c

antons.

The result surprised even Swiss professionals.

No one owns it.

The Gemeinde assumes the employer explains the rules. 

The employer assumes the relocation firm does it.

The relocation firm assumes the canton sends instructions. 

The canton assumes the insurer clarifies requirements. The insurer assumes “people know this already”.

But here is the part nobody says aloud.

Once the expat signs the contract, the country quietly assumes they already understand the system. As if the canton, the Gemeinde, the health insurance jungle, the tax logic, and the rules of Swiss quiet hours were somehow universal knowledge.

And when newcomers ask questions, the reaction is often a quiet eye roll.

“Das söttisch doch wüsse.” “Go get the information.” And the classic line every German expat hears at least once: “Wenn du es nicht verstehst, verpiss dich zurück.”

Ugly? Yes. 

Real? Also yes.

The tension is simple.

Switzerland wants global competence without global onboarding. 

It wants foreign expertise without foreign ignorance. 

It wants cultural preservation without cultural explanation. 

Switzerland never feared foreigners.

It feared losing coherence.

This isn’t hate. 

It’s structural arrogance built into a system that never had to translate itself.

Everyone is sure “the system works”. 

But only for those born in it.

This is not a criticism. 

It is a structure.

Switzerland built a world-class system from the inside out. 

It never built an entry point for those arriving from the outside.

And in this gap sits every preventable mistake.

Missed deadlines. 

Overpaid insurance. 

Wrong franchise. 

Late registration. 

Tax penalties. 

Blocked bank accounts. 

Family-reunification delays. 

AHV gaps. 

Housing rejections.

All predictable.

All preventable. 

But only if someone owns the map.

We are continuing to investigate the Swiss onboarding chain. Not to blame. To create clarity where the system assumes knowledge.

If you work in a Gemeinde, canton, HR, relocation, banking, or insurance: 

Which part of onboarding do you believe you own? 

And which part do you assume someone else handles?

Honest answers are how the real picture emerges.

Sources:

 – Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS): Federalism & Canton Autonomy Overview 2024

 – SECO: Labour & Talent Mobility Brief 2024

 – Kanton Zürich: Integrationsbericht 2023

 – Staatssekretariat für Migration (SEM): Arrival & Registration Process Notes 2024

 – SKOS Sozialbericht: Administrative Fragmentation Impacts 2023