Tag Archives: Business

Swiss exports are expected to stagnate this year before recovering in 2020. (Keystone / Steffen Schmidt) The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has revised its growth forecasts for Switzerland downwards for the next two years due to a global economic slowdown. After a strong 2018 (+2.5%), gross domestic product (GDP) growth should slow in 2019 (+1%), the OECD said on Tuesday. This compares...

Women, such as Swiss Railways chairwoman Monika Ribar, are still in a minority, but the gap is slowly closing. (© Keystone / Peter Klaunzer) For the first time, all of Switzerland’s top 20 companies have at least one woman in the boardroom. The finding by consultancy firm Russell Reynolds shows the slow but steady progress towards gender equality in the management of Swiss firms. Russell Reynoldsexternal link found that...

Delegates at the ILO’s annual conference in Geneva last year Employees who are active in trade unions are not sufficiently protected from being sacked in Switzerland, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). The Geneva-based body has added Switzerland to a blacklist – just before a centenary conference in the Swiss city. The list comprises 40 countries that violate ILO conventions. Together with Greece...

A Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet lands during an assessment at the Swiss Army airbase in Payerne on April 30 The Federal Council has changed its approach to buying new combat aircraft and anti-aircraft missiles. Swiss voters will now be able to have a say only on the fighter jets, on which the government wants to spend no more than CHF6 billion ($5.95 billion). It has asked the defence ministry to present a planning...

Bike riders are opting for a little electrical help to ease the strain on their muscles. (© Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller) Unusually warm and dry weather conditions have been credited with boosting bicycle sales last year – with a greater proportion of cyclists opting to ease muscle strain with the assistance of e-bikes in Switzerland’s mountainous terrain. On Tuesday, the cycling enthusiasts group dynaMot added more...

Nestlé employs almost 10,000 people across Switzerland. (© Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott) Nestle is planning to restructure its operations in the Swiss city of Basel. Up to 100 jobs are threatened by cuts or moving production abroad. Some 177 people are employed at Nestlé’s Basel plant, 100 of which could be under threat over the next 18 months, the Swiss food giant announced on Thursday. The diverse range of products...

An apartment in Geneva with a trompe-l’oeil facade (image from 2011) (Keystone / Martial Trezzini) Family apartments in Geneva are the most expensive to rent, while those in St Gallen in the east of the country are the cheapest, according to a survey of the ten biggest Swiss cities. The median monthly rent for a 4.5-room apartment (100-110 square metres) in St Gallen costs CHF2,004 ($1,971), according to a survey...

Last year Swissmedic and the Swiss customs officers seized 15 illegal shipments of Xanax from Cambodia, Hungary and other countries (Swissmedic) The Federal Customs Administration seized 3,203 shipments of illegally imported medicines in 2018 – triple the amount of the previous year. Erectile stimulants remain at the top of the list of illegally imported substances, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products...

Several IT companies and the Swiss government administration are involved in one of the biggest corruption cases in recent years. (© Keystone/Christian Beutler) Four suspects have been sentenced in a major corruption case involving a unit of the Swiss economics ministry. But the main defendant is still awaiting a formal indictment. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) announced on Wednesday that a trustee was given...

Xi and Maurer (centre) during the welcome ceremony in Beijing on Monday. Swiss President Ueli Maurer has been received by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, for a state visit at the end of a week-long visit to China. The talks on Monday focused on strengthening relations, notably on economic and finance matters, according to a government statementexternal link. Bilateral ties are at a “historic high in terms of...