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Let's say that this passed and became law. With this law in effect, why would I want to work as an executive in Switzerland when I can get much better pay elsew

Let's say that this passed and became law. With this law in effect, why would I want to work as an executive in Switzerland when I can get much better pay elsewhere?

allochthon 13y ago
Because you like living in Switzerland, you love what you do, you make generous compensation and you add value to the company. Quite simple, actually.
- gaius 13y ago
  But you can do all those things and have as good a quality of life for your family in London or New York or even Paris, for now anyway.
  - allochthon 13y ago
    That's fine -- leave the Swiss company for one in London, New York or Paris. There are ten people who are as talented and qualified as you (nothing personal, this is just the way things work when there is a large candidate pool), whose priorities will be compatible with the position at the Swiss company.
    - stephenbez 13y ago
      If there are ten people who are talented and qualified for the position and willing to work at the low wage, why would the company choose someone for the position where they would have to pay a lot more money? It doesn't compute. Obviously the company believes the higher paid individual brings more value to the company.
      - allochthon 13y ago
        why would the company choose someone for the position where they would have to pay a lot more money Because the system of executive pay is self-serving and broken. See http://www.economist.com/node/2121856 http://www.economist.com/node/2121856.
  - tobltobs 13y ago
    can you? in New York? London? Sure.
- fennecfoxen 13y ago
  Right-o. So we're mostly Americans here, at least more so than we are Swiss: let me use American figures. Assume minimum wage of $7.25/hr, equivalent full-time salary of $14,500/yr. You're the CEO of a firm doing labor-intensive business, with a large number of minimum-wage employees and low-ish profit margins (they tend to go together) so that raising wages would mean swift bankruptcy. Your maximum salary is now $174,000. Which is not a bad rate of pay, but it's not a really really good rate of pay. Heck, I've made that much before (2010, when the market un-crashed and my stock options were actually worth money). You used to make more, so you own your little chalet, and you've got a nest egg of $4.5 million. You make about $175k/yr off the stock market alone. You love what you do... but do you love it more than a full-time job skiing in the Swiss Alps and living off savings?
  - phlo 13y ago
    While Switzerland doesn't have a hard minimum wage, the reasonable minimum is around triple your figure or CHF 20 ($21) per hour. Lidl (a chain of deep-discount stores) recently ran a campaign touting their new minimum of CHF 4'000 per month. Some smaller businesses are a bit below that, but you'd be hard pressed to find a position below CHF 3'500. At half a million per year, I'm confident I could make ends meet.
  - rmc 13y ago
    I don't think Switzerland has many "labour intensive industries" :P
- Tohhou 13y ago
  Rich people do not need money. Money is the way they keep score in the game they play. Running a high level company is not trivial, and those who are willing and able to do the hard work are going to live where they can actually compete. The best performers are not watered down by simplistic idealism.
rayiner 13y ago
Because you don't have a choice? A lot of companies relocate to Switzerland because of low corporate taxes (juices earnings per share metrics). For shareholders, driving down executive compensation is just icing on the cake.
- jonknee 13y ago
  > For shareholders, driving down executive compensation is just icing on the cake. Until your executives jump ship and you can't find qualified replacements.

Let's say that this passed and became law. With this law in effect, why would I want to work as an executive in Switzerland when I can get much better pay elsewhere?

allochthon 13y ago

Because you like living in Switzerland, you love what you do, you make generous compensation and you add value to the company. Quite simple, actually.

gaius 13y ago
But you can do all those things and have as good a quality of life for your family in London or New York or even Paris, for now anyway.
- allochthon 13y ago
  That's fine -- leave the Swiss company for one in London, New York or Paris. There are ten people who are as talented and qualified as you (nothing personal, this is just the way things work when there is a large candidate pool), whose priorities will be compatible with the position at the Swiss company.
  - stephenbez 13y ago
    If there are ten people who are talented and qualified for the position and willing to work at the low wage, why would the company choose someone for the position where they would have to pay a lot more money? It doesn't compute. Obviously the company believes the higher paid individual brings more value to the company.
    - allochthon 13y ago
      why would the company choose someone for the position where they would have to pay a lot more money Because the system of executive pay is self-serving and broken. See http://www.economist.com/node/2121856 http://www.economist.com/node/2121856.
- tobltobs 13y ago
  can you? in New York? London? Sure.
fennecfoxen 13y ago
Right-o. So we're mostly Americans here, at least more so than we are Swiss: let me use American figures. Assume minimum wage of $7.25/hr, equivalent full-time salary of $14,500/yr. You're the CEO of a firm doing labor-intensive business, with a large number of minimum-wage employees and low-ish profit margins (they tend to go together) so that raising wages would mean swift bankruptcy. Your maximum salary is now $174,000. Which is not a bad rate of pay, but it's not a really really good rate of pay. Heck, I've made that much before (2010, when the market un-crashed and my stock options were actually worth money). You used to make more, so you own your little chalet, and you've got a nest egg of $4.5 million. You make about $175k/yr off the stock market alone. You love what you do... but do you love it more than a full-time job skiing in the Swiss Alps and living off savings?
- phlo 13y ago
  While Switzerland doesn't have a hard minimum wage, the reasonable minimum is around triple your figure or CHF 20 ($21) per hour. Lidl (a chain of deep-discount stores) recently ran a campaign touting their new minimum of CHF 4'000 per month. Some smaller businesses are a bit below that, but you'd be hard pressed to find a position below CHF 3'500. At half a million per year, I'm confident I could make ends meet.
- rmc 13y ago
  I don't think Switzerland has many "labour intensive industries" :P
Tohhou 13y ago
Rich people do not need money. Money is the way they keep score in the game they play. Running a high level company is not trivial, and those who are willing and able to do the hard work are going to live where they can actually compete. The best performers are not watered down by simplistic idealism.

rayiner 13y ago

Because you don't have a choice? A lot of companies relocate to Switzerland because of low corporate taxes (juices earnings per share metrics). For shareholders, driving down executive compensation is just icing on the cake.

jonknee 13y ago
> For shareholders, driving down executive compensation is just icing on the cake. Until your executives jump ship and you can't find qualified replacements.