Tag Archives: Business & Economy

[caption id="attachment_459835" align="alignleft" width="400"] © Vladimir Fedorov | Dreamstime.com[/caption] Working from home is a mixed bag of pros and cons for most Swiss who were surveyed by gfs.bern in March and April 2020. But it worked for most. In 2019, before the outbreak of the corona pandemic, around 1.1 million employees in Switzerland occasionally worked from home. During the pandemic the number of hours worked at home...

Working from home is a mixed bag of pros and cons for most Swiss who were surveyed by gfs.bern in March and April 2020. But it worked for most. © Vladimir Fedorov | Dreamstime.comIn 2019, before the outbreak of the corona pandemic, around 1.1 million employees in Switzerland occasionally worked from home. During the pandemic the number of hours worked at home more than tripled. Before the virus an average employee spent 10.5 hours working from home a week. During the lockdown, the...

Switzerland’s highest court recently decided that an employee asked to work at home can claim a part of their rent from their employer, according to the newspaper 20 Minutes. © Ronstik | Dreamstime.comAn employee of a financial firm in Zurich, who got into a disagreement with their employer over the reimbursement of some of their rent, took their case to the Federal Tribunal, Switzerland’s highest court. The rental reimbursement related to the use of the employee’s home as an office....

40% of restaurants that have reopened in Switzerland fear they won’t survive, according to a recent industry survey by Gastro Suisse. © Rtdeleon04 | Dreamstime.comWhen Switzerland’s federal government allowed restaurants to reopen on 11 May 2020 around three quarters did. Many of those that didn’t, decided they wouldn’t be able to turn a profit operating with the required space and hygiene requirements. Those that did open report revenues on average 60% lower than over the same period...

Switzerland’s Federal Council plans to lift all travel restrictions and re-establish free movement of persons across the Schengen area no later than 6 July 2020 and possibly as early as mid June, it announced today. © Scaliger | Dreamstime.comIf the epidemiological evolution allows, restrictions on entering, working and living in Switzerland will be lifted for all Schengen states from mid-June and no later than 6 July, said the government. The Schengen area, which consists of 26...

From 6 June 2020, measures put in place to fight the spread of SARS-CoV-2 will be extensively eased, according to Switzerland’s government. © Regissercom | Dreamstime.comThe number of new cases of infection has remained low for a number of weeks now, as has the number of hospital admissions and deaths, said a press statement. From 30 May 2020, the limit on private gatherings in public will be increased from a maximum of 5 people to a maximum of 30. From 6 June 2020, organised...

Since 11:50 am on 26 May 2020, Swisscom’s mobile and landline networks have been experiencing problems. © Rostislav Ageev | Dreamstime.comLandline and mobile network calls are currently impaired for business and private customers, according to Swisscom. The company said its specialists are working on rectifying a fault that started at 11:50am on 26 May 2020. According the Swiss government website alert.swiss the network disturbance is affecting 14 cantons. Update: Swisscom...

The rate on deposits at the Swiss National Bank (SNB) is currently -0.75%. And while taking the rate further into negative territory is not the base case scenario, it cannot be excluded, according to some economists at the bank UBS. © Marekusz | Dreamstime.comThe probability that the SNB lowers rates further is not a base scenario, according to Thomas Jordan, the bank’s chief, reported the newspaper 20 Minutes. However, economists at UBS think it is possible, and give it a 30%...

Yesterday, EasyJet announced that a “highly sophisticated” cyber-attack had affected around 9 million customers. © Transversospinales | Dreamstime.comThe company said its “investigation found that the email address and travel details of approximately 9 million customers were accessed. These affected customers will be contacted in the next few days. If you are not contacted then your information has not been accessed.”   The statement said 2,208 customers had their credit card details...

On 13 May 2020, Karin Keller-Sutter, Switzerland’s ministerial head of police and justice, said Switzerland is aiming to fully reopen borders between Germany, Austria and France on 15 June 2020. © Prosiaczeq | Dreamstime.comAfter discussions with her counterparts in these three countries she said there was a common will to return to normal as quickly as possible including the freedom to travel, if epidemiological development allows it.  In addition, she said they would like to relax...