Today in Switzerland: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday
Find out what's going on today in Switzerland with The Local's short roundup of the news.
Slight increase in Swiss wages in 2021
The signatories to Switzerland's main collective labour agreements (CLA) agreed to a nominal rise in real wages of 0.4 percent and of 0.2 percent in minimum wages, according to new data from the Federal Statistical Office.
While Switzerland has no official minimum pay, both the cantons and federal authorities consider CLAs to be generally binding for all employers and employees, with negotiated salaries and work conditions automatically applying to all companies in the same sector.
Real and minimum wages increased by 0.4% and 0.2% respectively in 2021 #statistics https://t.co/PiVILGW8w2 pic.twitter.com/hbEfmdURNA
— Swiss Statistics (@swissstatistics) October 25, 2021
READ MORE: How much do workers in Switzerland earn – and which jobs are the best paid?
New national campaign targets online fraud
Under the hashtags #unfpasse in German , #gaffetoi in French, and #faiattenzione in Italian, police departments around Switzerland have launched a campaign to draw the public's attention to the risks that accompany shopping on the internet with the credit card.
"Cyber crooks are usually very creative and take advantage of the gullibility or inattention of their victims," said Rolf Nägeli, head of the prevention department of the Zurich city police.
The awareness and prevention campaign is broken down into six classic scenarios used by fraudsters online. They are accompanied by practical advice encouraging people to check the reliability of merchant sites, not provide credit card information on email, and regularly check for any irregularities in their account statements.
More information, in English, can be found here.
READ MORE: How to avoid the most common online scams in Switzerland
Rising consumer demand for US-bound flights
If you are planning to fly to the United States in the near future, you’d better purchase your ticket and book your flight soon.
Ever since the US announced that it would open its borders to fully vaccinated foreign tourists from November 8th, SWISS airline tickets are selling like the proverbial hotcakes — quickly.
As reported by Swiss media, the demand for US-bound air tickets from Switzerland is “exploding", not only for cheap economy tickets, but also for pricier seats in Business Class.
READ MORE: UPDATE: US to lift travel ban for vaccinated Europeans on November 8th
Then and now: comparison of the 1918 and 2020 pandemics in Switzerland
The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) has released its comparison of mortality rates in Switzerland due to the Spanish flu in 1918 and coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
It found that flu deaths “were significantly more numerous" than those attributed to Covid —the former illness killed nearly 22,000 people in 1918, equivalent to 5.6 deaths per 1,000 people, while the latter claimed 7,600 lives in 2020, or 0.9 per 1,000.
However, the two pandemics also have some striking similarities, according to FSO.
For instance, both in 1918 and 2020, the second wave of infections happened during the same months of the year, with the peak of deaths from the two pandemics occurring around November. In both cases, the cantons of western Switzerland had higher death rates than the cantons in the eastern part of the country.
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
Comments (1)
See Also
Slight increase in Swiss wages in 2021
The signatories to Switzerland's main collective labour agreements (CLA) agreed to a nominal rise in real wages of 0.4 percent and of 0.2 percent in minimum wages, according to new data from the Federal Statistical Office.
While Switzerland has no official minimum pay, both the cantons and federal authorities consider CLAs to be generally binding for all employers and employees, with negotiated salaries and work conditions automatically applying to all companies in the same sector.
Real and minimum wages increased by 0.4% and 0.2% respectively in 2021 #statistics https://t.co/PiVILGW8w2 pic.twitter.com/hbEfmdURNA
— Swiss Statistics (@swissstatistics) October 25, 2021
READ MORE: How much do workers in Switzerland earn – and which jobs are the best paid?
New national campaign targets online fraud
Under the hashtags #unfpasse in German , #gaffetoi in French, and #faiattenzione in Italian, police departments around Switzerland have launched a campaign to draw the public's attention to the risks that accompany shopping on the internet with the credit card.
"Cyber crooks are usually very creative and take advantage of the gullibility or inattention of their victims," said Rolf Nägeli, head of the prevention department of the Zurich city police.
The awareness and prevention campaign is broken down into six classic scenarios used by fraudsters online. They are accompanied by practical advice encouraging people to check the reliability of merchant sites, not provide credit card information on email, and regularly check for any irregularities in their account statements.
More information, in English, can be found here.
READ MORE: How to avoid the most common online scams in Switzerland
Rising consumer demand for US-bound flights
If you are planning to fly to the United States in the near future, you’d better purchase your ticket and book your flight soon.
Ever since the US announced that it would open its borders to fully vaccinated foreign tourists from November 8th, SWISS airline tickets are selling like the proverbial hotcakes — quickly.
As reported by Swiss media, the demand for US-bound air tickets from Switzerland is “exploding", not only for cheap economy tickets, but also for pricier seats in Business Class.
READ MORE: UPDATE: US to lift travel ban for vaccinated Europeans on November 8th
Then and now: comparison of the 1918 and 2020 pandemics in Switzerland
The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) has released its comparison of mortality rates in Switzerland due to the Spanish flu in 1918 and coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
It found that flu deaths “were significantly more numerous" than those attributed to Covid —the former illness killed nearly 22,000 people in 1918, equivalent to 5.6 deaths per 1,000 people, while the latter claimed 7,600 lives in 2020, or 0.9 per 1,000.
However, the two pandemics also have some striking similarities, according to FSO.
For instance, both in 1918 and 2020, the second wave of infections happened during the same months of the year, with the peak of deaths from the two pandemics occurring around November. In both cases, the cantons of western Switzerland had higher death rates than the cantons in the eastern part of the country.
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.