The impact of the coronavirus crisis continues to be felt on the Swiss economy. At the end of January, 169,753 people were registered as unemployed with the Regional Employment Offices, which is 6,208 more than the previous month. Compared to January 2020, unemployment has risen by 40.3%, some 48,735 more people out of work, according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco), which published its figures on Monday. It should be noted that unemployment statistics from the International Labour Organization (ILO) differ from Seco as the former also takes into account the nation’s long-term unemployed people who are no longer registered with the Regional Employment Offices.
The number of vacancies advertised in January 2021 rose by 7,715 to 32,941, of which 21,684 were subject to the obligation to favour Swiss jobseekers. As of July 2018, the obligation to advertise vacancies in this way for occupations with a national unemployment rate of at least 8% was introduced throughout Switzerland; since January 1, 2020, this threshold value has been modified to 5%.
According to the latest available data, in November 2020, short-time working jumped by 35.2% in one month, affecting 296,592 people. In total, more than 34,310 companies made use of this measure, a jump of 50.1%. The number of working hours lost also rose by almost 50% to over 19 million hours.
In Switzerland, when a company finds itself in difficulty, it can temporarily reduce the working hours of its staff. The employees then work at a lower percentage and the employer pays a lower salary which is supplemented by unemployment insurance.
The employees are compensated with 80% of the loss of income. So if the company reduces the activity rate from 100% (full-time) to 50%, the company pays this 50% and the unemployment insurance fund covers 80% of the remaining 50%. The employee thus receives 90% of their initial salary. The unemployment fund pays its share to the employer, who uses this amount to pay the wages of the employees.
The company can also cease operations completely for a certain period.
Popular Stories
More
Swiss Abroad
The citizenship obstacle course facing spouses of Swiss Abroad
This content was published on
The Ethos Foundation recommends that shareholders vote against all compensation-related items at the Annual General Meeting on March 7.
Top Swiss firms close to reaching gender quota in boards
This content was published on
The proportion of women on the boards of directors of the fifty largest listed companies in Switzerland currently stands at 28%.
Swiss committee wants to end government resignations during legislative term
This content was published on
Members of the Federal Council should no longer be able to leave office before the end of their term, according to a House of Representatives committee.
Swiss government seat: Ritter and Pfister nominated to succeed Amherd
This content was published on
Markus Ritter from St Gallen and Martin Pfister from Zug were officially nominated by the Centre Party on Friday to succeed Defence Minister Viola Amherd.
Top Swiss court rejects Russian request for administrative tax assistance
This content was published on
There is currently no reason to transmit banking information to the Russian Federation, the Swiss Federal Court has ruled.
After strike by radiologists, doctors demonstrate in Bern
This content was published on
Following a strike by radiology technicians in Fribourg, doctors, vets, dentists and chiropractors expressed their frustration on Friday outside parliament in the Swiss capital.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.