UBS is creating more space for tech talents in Zurich even as it can’t fill all the positions it has in Switzerland, Axel Lehmann said in a newspaper interview.

UBS already employs a so-called «digital factory» in the heart of Zurich, as was reported earlier. Now, the bank plans for a second big digital work space in the city, according to an interview with Swiss boss Axel Lehmann carried by «Luzerner Zeitung».

About 500 staff will get new offices at Hardturmstrasse in the West of Switzerland's largest city. Some of those will be programming applications. «A large part of our product and application innovation for example in e- and mobile banking will come from the digital factory,» said Lehmann.

Not Enough Swiss Tech Geeks

But even though the bank is investing in new IT facilities in Zurich and back offices in Schaffhausen and Biel, it can’t fill the positions with qualified staff from Switzerland. The country’s largest bank is forced to look beyond the borders for skilled staff.

The bank is finding it hard to hire mathematicians and engineers in places such as Zurich and New York at competitive rates. The sheer number of engineers available in India for instance, simply isn’t on offer in Switzerland, Lehmann said.

Postfinance Should Be Privatized

The banker also voiced his opinion about the possibility that Postfinance, the banking division of Swiss Post, is about to receive the right to sell mortgages and loans. He doesn’t see a problem for UBS as such but insisted that there should be a sense of competitive equality.

This means that the government should sell a majority in Postfinance, creating equal regulatory and tax conditions for the companies.