Switzerland Today

Greetings from Bern,

It all began on July 3, 1874. Can you guess what it was? The Basel Zoo opened its doors on this day 150 years ago becoming the first zoo in Switzerland. Although the elephants and zebras are a major attraction, I’m partial to the Gentoo penguin walks. But you’ll have to visit Switzerland in winter for that.

Read on for more news from Switzerland today.   

The Swiss Army has deployed troops to help storm-affected communitie Keystone / Jean-Christophe Bott

In the News: the army helps storm affected communities, a strange case of identity theft, and Holcim says farewell to a historical site.

• According to an international poll, 54% of Swiss residents are opposed to more funding for defence, despite the war in Ukraine. Only 12% would be prepared to send soldiers to fight alongside those from Ukraine.
• The Swiss army deployed troops to the Upper Valais village of Saas-Grund, an area of which was buried over the weekend by a torrential mudslide. The main road has been cleared, but piles of material mixed with mud still cover the sidewalks.
• A man who posed as the coach of Cameroon’s national handball team has been given a two-year suspended sentence and barred from Switzerland for six years. The “coach” helped 19 of his compatriots pose as members of the national handball team in order to enter Switzerland without visas.
• Building materials company Holcim intends to close its historic Holderbank site in the canton of Aargau in 2026. This is where the company was founded and inspired its name. The 200 or so employees at the site will move to the company’s headquarters in Zug.

The WEF founder announced plans to retire at the end of May. Keystone-SDA

WEF founder Klaus Schwab is in hot water over allegations of a toxic work environment. Can he stay cool?

The World Economic Forum has no shortage of critics. It’s been the subject of conspiracy theories and anti-capitalist demonstrations. Up to now, its founder Klaus Schwab has managed to deflect criticism and rise above it all, keeping the champagne flowing and WEF members happy.

But the latest scandal may prove hard to brush off. Around a month after Schwab announced his plans to retire from the organisation he founded over 50 years ago, the Wall Street Journal published a bombshell. WEF is most known for its elite gathering in Davos but to make that happen, WEF employs some 1,000 people on the shores of Lake Geneva and other locations.

The article claims there was a culture of discrimination against women and black people under Schwab’s leadership. The Wall Street JournalExternal link spoke to more than 80 current and former WEF employees who told story after story of sexual harassment by upper management, unfair treatment of pregnant employees and forced dismissals. The paper alleges Schwab himself engaged in behavior that would “violate standard workplace policies of the Forum’s leading corporate partners”. The WEF has denied the allegations according to various reports in Swiss media today.

Such allegations would be controversial in any company but perhaps more so for WEF, given its lofty aims to “improve the state of the world”.  After all, WEF publicly advocates for gender equality including with its annual report on the global gender gap.

Expats love the views but it’s not enough to attract expats. Keystone / Valentin Flauraud

Money doesn’t buy expats: Switzerland drops in attractiveness to foreign professionals

The annual expat survey by InterNations is always an interesting look into Switzerland. The country is one of the most popular destinations for expats thanks to all the global companies, universities and international organisations set up here.

But this year’s survey showed that Switzerland is less popular than ever with foreign professionals. Switzerland was ranked 34th out of a total of 53 countries, compared to 23rd last year. Sure, expats like the quality of life – the mountains, the cleanliness and transportation – but they find it hard to make friends.

The housing situation was also highlighted as a headache for many expats. Around 63% rated the cost of housing negatively.  But Switzerland shouldn’t get too down on itself. People were happy about their financial situation. As many as 58% stated that they had a gross annual income of at least $100,000.

But money doesn’t buy attractiveness. There was only one European country ranked by in the top 10 countries for expats. Panama took the top spot followed by Mexico and Indonesia.