Apple is reportedly preparing to occupy around 9,500 square metres of office space in Zurich-Altstetten, enough for 500 to 700 employees, in a building owned by UBS’s real-estate fund Sima.
The Tages-Anzeiger first reported that Apple had secured space on Flurstrasse in a property belonging to the UBS real-estate fund Sima, with several outlets subsequently carrying the story.
UBS did confirm in a June newsletter that an “internationally active technology company” would take roughly 9,500 square metres in the building. Real-estate adviser JLL estimated that the space could accommodate 500 to 700 workers.
The reported annual rent exceeds CHF 2 million.
Apple itself has not confirmed the plan, and UBS says it does not comment on individual tenants.
The move comes as UBS expands its technology operations in India, including a new Hyderabad centre with plans for 2,000 to 3,000 additional roles, sharpening concerns about the future of Swiss banking-technology jobs.
Apple Expands In Zurich-Altstetten
The new space is expected to support Apple’s research and development in Zurich, particularly in machine learning, robotics, artificial intelligence and computer vision. Apple has operated in Zurich since acquiring the startup Faceshift in 2015 and currently lists around 20 research and development roles in the city, mainly in machine learning.
LinkedIn profiles suggest roughly 200 Apple employees already work in Zurich in machine-learning and computer-vision fields. The reported expansion would therefore mark a substantial scaling-up of Apple’s Swiss research presence.
Meanwhile, UBS’s Technology Shift Continues
UBS’s plans in India are confirmed. In February, Reuters reported that the bank expected to hire up to 3,000 people in India, including 2,000 to 3,000 roles at a new Hyderabad site, roughly doubling its workforce there. UBS said the expansion would strengthen its technology capabilities, including AI, and broaden its operations footprint.
The hiring comes as UBS continues integrating Credit Suisse and reducing jobs in Switzerland. Reuters reported at the time that the planned Indian hiring was similar in scale to the number of Swiss jobs expected to disappear through the integration.
UBS’s Indian expansion is aimed at banking operations, technology infrastructure and AI-enabled services.
For Zurich, Apple’s reported expansion is a positive signal for the city’s technology and research sector, adding potentially hundreds of highly skilled roles in Altstetten.
For UBS employees, the more consequential development is the bank’s confirmed shift of technology capacity towards Hyderabad and other international hubs, even as it continues to invest in Zurich real estate, including a planned 110-metre tower in Altstetten.
