Tag Archives: 3.) Swiss Info

The shortage of skilled workers on the Swiss job market has become even more acute this year, according to a survey. Finding suitable engineers, technical workers and fiduciaries is particularly difficult. The skilled worker shortage index(PDF), compiled annually by Adecco Switzerland in collaboration with the University of Zurich, measures the occupations in which the number of vacancies is particularly large compared with the number of job-seekers. There is an...

Industrial products, including cars, will be affected. (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) Import duties on various products including cars, clothes, and household appliances are set to be removed in Switzerland. If parliament approves the plan, the measure will enter into force in 2022. Finance Minister Guy Parmelin announced the plan on Wednesday after what the government described as a very positive consultation process with stakeholders. The removal of the duties on a...

It doesn’t cost as much to train a painter as it does an IT specialist Firms in Switzerland may benefit annually by over CHF3,000 ($3,000) per apprentice when they train their own apprentices, a report has found. The fourth cost-benefit studyexternal link conducted by the Observatory for Vocational Education and Training of the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (OBS SFIVETexternal link), published on Tuesdayexternal link, revealed that...

The number of work permits issued for non-EU workers has been a source of contention in recent years. (Keystone) Switzerland will issue 8,500 work visas to non-EU citizens next year – the same number as in 2019. The Swiss government also confirmed an earlier decision that 3,500 British workers will be welcomed in the event of a no-deal Brexit situation. Next year Swiss companies will be able to draw on 4,500 B-permitsexternal link for so-called “third country”...

‘Online shopping creates freedom,’ said the authors of the survey (Keystone) Only 3% of adult internet users buy nothing online, with the elderly most likely to stick to bricks-and-mortar shops, according to a survey. Online comparison service Comparis.ch said on Tuesday that whereas 6% of those aged 56-74 were yet to place an order online, the number of abstainers among 18- to 35-year-olds was less than 1%. By contrast, almost one surfer in two (48%) orders...

Lugano Airport in southern Switzerland is located 80km north of Milan in Italy. Lugano authorities have approved a series of loans to help save Lugano Airport in southern Switzerland, allowing it to operate for at least one more year. The regional airport has struggled since the bankruptcy of Darwin Airline and collapse of Adria Airways in September. On Monday, Lugano parliament followed the local government by voting in favour of three loans, totalling CHF5.7...

Former Malaysian leader Najib Razak’s third corruption trial opened earlier this month. He faces multiple corruption charges linked to the looting of the 1MDB fund, a scandal that contributed to his election defeat last year. Two bankers who worked at Coutts private bank in Zurich were fined by the Swiss authorities for failing to report suspicious transactions linked to the sovereign wealth fund 1MDB scandal, it was reported on Sunday. The Sonntag Zeitung and Le...

Patek Philippe’s steel Grandmaster Chime comes with a reversible dial plate, which can be seen here A CHF640 ($645) bar of chocolate is a sign of either the end of civilisation or a healthy market economy. Whatever your view, Switzerland holds several world records when it comes to expensive goods. “As the hammer came down on $31 million (CHF30.6 million), the audience leapt as one to its feet, erupting in wild cheering and thunderous applause,” the Financial Times...

(KEYSTONE/MARTIAL TREZZINI) Voters in Geneva have backed a local initiative calling for controlled development of the airport. According to initial results, 55.81% of voters said “yes” on Sunday to the constitutional initiative calling for the “democratic piloting of Geneva Airport”. Specifically, the initiativeexternal link is for tighter controls on the expansion of Geneva Airport, with noise and air pollution becoming a higher priority. Supporters of the...

Operation Car Wash began in March 2014 as an investigation into allegations that executives at Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras had accepted bribes from construction firms in return for awarding them contracts at inflated prices. (Keystone / Antonio Lacerda) Swiss investigators have executed searches at the Geneva offices of commodity traders Vitol and Trafigura at the request of Brazilian federal prosecutors as part of Brazil’s Lava Jato [Car Wash] corruption...