Google likes it in Zurich

At the WEF in Davos, Schweiz am Sonntag confronted the head of Google with the criticisms of the Zurich location that a Swiss engineer and Google employee had recently made to the NZZ am Sonntag. The criticism: Zurich is losing its attractiveness and losing employees to London because it no longer receives work permits for employees from outside the EU. In addition, regulations such as the recording of working hours are detrimental to any entrepreneurial spirit.

If you believe the words of Schmidt, who has been head of Google's parent company Alphabet since August 2015, the situation looks anything but threatening for the Zurich site. According to Schmidt, investing in Zurich is the best decision Google has ever made. When asked whether the difficulty of recruiting foreigners would hamper growth, Schmidt answers with little concern. The location has developed very well so far and will continue to do so because everyone loves Zurich. "Zurich is and will remain a huge success for us," he concludes.

Google has been based in Zurich since 2004 and began with a two-man office. Today, the IT giant employs 1600 people in the city on the Limmat. Google is currently gradually moving from the Hürlimann site, which has become too small, to the new SBB Europaallee development, where the company could theoretically accommodate up to 5,000 employees.

The Swiss computer scientist Urs Hölzle was responsible for Google's Zurich location. The Basel native is the longest-serving Google employee after the two founders Sergej Brin and Larry Page. Hölzle completed his doctorate at Standford in 1994, where he met the two later founders. Today he is responsible for the global IT infrastructure and data centers. (hae/Schweiz am Sonntag)