Tag Archives: 3.) Swiss Info

In Switzerland Uber grew 30% in the last year, reaching 400,000 active users. It’s not the first time Uber has faced some bumps on the road in canton Geneva. But the latest move requiring the ride-hailing company to treat drivers as employees could spell big changes for the company. Will Uber call it quits or set a precedent for other cities? The thousands of diplomats, business travellers and tourists arriving at Geneva airport every month may soon need to return to...

Farinet banknotes were introduced in Valais in western Switzerland in spring 2017 to stimulate the local economy. The Farinet – a local currency introduced in canton Valais in 2017 – is to be withdrawn from circulation at the end of 2019 after failing to stimulate the regional economy as hoped. Farinet banknotes were introduced in Valais in western Switzerland in spring 2017. But on Tuesday the association external linkbehind the currency announced it planned to...

One OECD recommendation is that Switzerland raises the retirement age. Trade tensions coupled with a slowdown in Europe are likely to take a toll on the Swiss economy over the next two years, the OECD forecasts. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has revised its growth forecasts downwards for Switzerland. It also recommended Switzerland raise its retirement age. Swiss GDP is expected to grow by 0.8% this year and by 1.4% in 2020,...

Around 20% of Nestlé’s palm oil is sourced from small farmers. When it came under fire from environmental groups over its harvesting of palm oil, Swiss food giant Nestlé committed to eliminating deforestation from its supply chain by next year. But it will take another three years to come close to accomplishing that goal. The year 2010 was a tough one for Nestlé. In March of that year, the environmental activist group Greenpeace uploaded a disturbing videoexternal...

Sign of the times: a Swisscom box in Lausanne in 2017. It had been converted into a book exchange The last telephone box in French-speaking Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva, was dismantled on Thursday. Swisscom will remove the one in the country – in Baden, northern Switzerland – on November 28. An era in the history of Swiss telecommunications is thus coming to an end, an era that witnessed millions of declarations of love, tears and banal conversations in...

Thiam says the bank is well positioned to achieve future profitable growth. Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam has reiterated that he had nothing to do with the spying scandal that recently rocked the bank. Thiam insisted that the debacle has not damaged business as the bank presented better than expected third quarter results. The bank doubled profits for the period to CHF881 million ($886 million) compared to Q3 2018. Its International Wealth Management division,...

Experts say about 192,000 people in Switzerland are at risk of gambling addiction. A small group has a compulsive gambling behaviour. An awareness campaign has been launched to help addicted online gamblers in Switzerland cope with their compulsive behaviour. An independent foundationexternal link said it published a special digital programme, Gambling without Addictionexternal link, with the authorities in most cantons of German-speaking Switzerland. It includes...

Most of the 2,700 jobs of GE Switzerland will be at two sites outside Zurich, notably in Baden and Birr. The American industrial conglomerate General Electric has announced a reduction in the number of planned layoffs at its subsidiaries in Switzerland. The company said a maximum of 200 people would lose their jobs at two of its sites west of Zurich. In June it had announced a figure of some 450. GE Switzerland said it was willing to help its staff find new jobs, the...

Is it too early for Swiss workers to crack open the champagne over wages? Employees in Switzerland are expected to receive above-inflation pay rises for the first time since 2016, according to a survey of companies. On average, workers are forecast to take home a 1.1% pay hike – a rise of 0.9% when taking inflation into account. These are the findings of research portal Lohntendenzen.chexternal link, as reported by the NZZ am Sonntagexternal link newspaper. The...

A motorway underpass means the gutting of this district in Zurich and the loss of more affordable apartments. (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) Under pressure to invest, Swiss pension funds are ploughing money into real estate, considered a safe and profitable option. As this drives up housing prices, however, desperate residents are fighting back through direct democracy. Building land in central Switzerland is scarce, and apartments and houses expensive, especially in...