Category Archive: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy

Filter archive by: Show All Show only Articles Show only Videos

What is it like to work in Switzerland?

2020-10-28

by

Switzerland has a strong economy, low inflation, low national debt and a low unemployment rate. It’s hard to believe that only a few generations ago, Switzerland was poor and many had to leave to find work abroad. In this episode of 'Switzerland Explained' we look at how the job market has dramatically transformed since then and continues to change. In the 19th century, the country’s textile and chemical industry started taking off, followed by...

Read More »

Swiss consumers want repair label on electronic appliances

2020-10-24

by

2020-10-24

No less than 98% of people polled by a consumer protection alliance are in favour of a labelling system that evaluates the repairability of electronic and household appliances. Most of them were also prepared to pay more for a product that offered specific repair guarantees.

Read More »

Zug and Geneva boost attractiveness with corporate tax cuts

2020-10-18

by

2020-10-18

Canton Geneva has made the biggest jump in the annual Credit Suisse ranking of attractive business locations, moving up ten spots to sit just behind Zurich.

Read More »

Roche poised to launch mass Covid testing

2020-10-17

by

2020-10-17

Swiss drug firm Roche says it is to launch a new Covid-19 antigen test before the end of the year, allowing faster, higher-volume testing. One of the most potent use cases could be at airports to ease the severe restrictions on air transport.

Read More »

Banks making slow progress on diversity issues

2020-10-16

by

2020-10-16

A recent story from the New York Times implied that the resignation of Ivory Coast-born Tidjane Thiam at the helm of Credit Suisse earlier this year had racist undertones, and he was the only Black CEO among the world’s biggest banks. How does the banking world – especially Credit Suisse – address the issue of diversity among its ranks?

Read More »

Swiss return frozen CHF36 million to South American football federation

2020-10-16

by

2020-10-16

Swiss authorities have returned about CHF36.6 million ($40 million) in funds frozen in Swiss bank accounts amid football corruption investigations into the South American football confederation CONMEBOL.

Read More »

Swiss government expects 2020 GDP to shrink less than feared

2020-10-15

by

2020-10-15

Swiss economic output will shrink by 3.8% this year, a less bad coronavirus-triggered slump than previously expected, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said on Monday.

Read More »

Techonology firm Ruag International to cut more jobs

2020-10-14

by

2020-10-14

The Swiss aerospace and armament company, Ruag, says it will shed up to 150 jobs by the end of next year due to the coronavirus crisis.

Read More »

Heard the one about the Swiss sense of humour? switzerland

2020-10-13

by

The Swiss have a reputation for being rather humourless – a stereotype many say is unfounded. How much is comedy linked to culture, politics and language that perhaps isn’t understood by outsiders? 

Read More »

Hotel sector sees gloomy outlook

2020-10-12

by

2020-10-12

Swiss hotels are predicting a worsening outlook, as newspapers warn thousands of jobs could be lost in the sector. According to the latest survey by sector association HotellerieSuisse  at the beginning of this month, more than a third of hotels (37%) say they will have to lay off staff in the coming months.

Read More »

Swiss refiner breaks industry silence on sourcing gold from risky areas

2020-10-10

by

2020-10-10

In a rare interview, PX Precinox CEO Philippe Chave defends his company’s record in Peru and says abandoning artisanal miners is not the way to achieve more sustainable and transparent mining practices.

Read More »

Swiss bank caught in Venezuelan money-laundering scandal

2020-10-08

by

2020-10-08

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has found that Banca Credinvest “seriously violated money-laundering regulations” in its handling of Venezuelan client relationships.

Read More »

EasyJet reduces fleet and cuts jobs in Switzerland 

2020-10-07

by

2020-10-07

Faced with lower demand and with no recovery expected anytime soon, EasyJet Switzerland is withdrawing two of its 12 planes stationed in Basel. Seventy jobs will be lost. 

Read More »

A conversation with Thikra Mohammed Nader, exiled Iraqi journalist

2020-10-06

by

Thikra Mohammed Nader, a Baghdad native who worked there as a journalist for a quarter century, fled to Switzerland in 2006. Decades ago, she was honoured by the Iraqi government for her work and was one of the first journalists on the ground of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980. But throughout her career and especially following the arrival of American troops in Iraq in 2003, she was targeted and threatened for her writing which contained ideas that ran...

Read More »

Hackers steal wages from Swiss universities

2020-10-05

by

2020-10-05

Unidentified cybercriminals have managed to siphon off employee salary transfers from at least three Swiss universities, including the University of Basel.

Read More »

Home office could lead to 10 percent less office space

2020-10-04

by

2020-10-04

Despite the easing of Covid-19 measures, remote working is still widespread in Switzerland, with almost a third of service sector employees still working from home.

Read More »

Investors stake their money on postponing death

2020-10-04

by

2020-10-04

A group of wealthy investors is gathering virtually in Switzerland to stake their money on a new asset class. It's longevity, underpinned by the science and technology of longer and healthier lives, and it could be a multi-billion-dollar market.

Read More »

Switzerland ranked sixth in digital competitiveness study

2020-10-03

by

2020-10-03

The Alpine nation has slipped one place to sixth in the “World Digital Competitiveness ranking” compiled by the Lausanne-based IMD business school.

Read More »

Greenland glacier water wins environmental shame award 

2020-10-02

by

2020-10-02

A mineral water from Greenland glaciers sold by Swiss retail chain Manor has been dubbed worst climate offender in this year’s “Devil’s Stone” award by the Swiss Alpine Initiative. 

Read More »

The Alptransit project – Lötschberg, Gotthard and Monte Ceneri tunnels through the Alps

2020-10-01

by

The Lötschberg, Gotthard base and Monte Ceneri base tunnels make up the Alpine rail link project. The idea to dig the three tunnels under the Swiss Alps was approved by Swiss voters in 1992. Twenty-eight years later, the project is symbolically completed, as the last tunnel, the Monte Ceneri, was handed over to the Federal railway company, SBB CFF FFS, who will exploit it.

Read More »