Interesting. Besides standard employment, you're also unable to hire remote contractors? (i.e. service providers, can be also set up as 3rd party one person company, etc...).
If you want an answer, drop me an email. I'd rather not disuss this in public, but we have no hiring restrictions per se. In fact, we routinely contract out bits of work.
Nowhere does it say that non-Swiss workers cannot obtain a working permit or visa. In fact, it highlights that EU/EFTA workers have an easier process for obtaining the required permit.
It is true that applications for non-EU and non-EFTA sponsorship are scrutinized more heavily, but for specialized software work it is often not too difficult to justify the application. They may require a proficiency in French though, as some cantons have language and "cultural integration" rules for foreign workers.
Overall though, I think the OP's quick dismissal of your question by glibly saying it's a cantonal issue out of their hands is kind of a red flag. More likely they have some other reason for being unwilling to pursue the hard work of the application process.
That is totally fine of course, it would just be nicer if they simply said, "I don't want to do the paperwork for reason X" instead of making excuses like "blame the canton, not me."
From my experience, no paperwork is needed for remote contractors - I just send PDF invoices at the end of the month and that's it... Money is transferred through bank/wire. I've had clients from USA, several European countries, Asia, ...
So I don't think Swiss laws are much more strict (e.g. compared to USA) regarding buying services from remote companies/consultants.
