This week Renu Chahil-Graf goes for a walk in the park with Afghanistan’s UN Ambassador in Geneva Dr. Suraya Dalil, and learns about her journey to the top, and of the men who helped her succeed in a place where only 5% of girls finish school. It started out as a normal school day in Kabul in 1978, […]
Credit Suisse drops trading bombshell and a plan to cut 2,000 jobs
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Credit Suisse Group AG Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam dropped a bombshell on investors: Caught off guard by a buildup of illiquid trading positions, the CEO said the bank will probably post a second straight quarterly loss as it unwinds the trades and deepens cuts at that business. Thiam, […]
Richemont group plans watch brand staff cuts
Tribune de Genève. According to the Swiss paper, Tribune de Genève, Richemont, the group which owns the Cartier and Piaget brands could eliminate 170 positions at Cartier and around 120 at Piaget and Vacheron Constantin. 50 posts at Vacheron Constantin in the vallée de Joux in Vaud and 35 at Plan-les-Ouates in Geneva are set […]
Swiss eat ever more cheese and favour homegrown extra-hard ones
According to the Swiss farmers union, 2015 was a bumper year for cheese consumption in Switzerland. The Swiss ate 21.49 kgs each, 260 grams more than in 2014. In total, 180,746 tonnes of cheese were eaten in 2015, 4,314 tonnes more than in 2014. Consumption of fromage frais, soft white cheeses like mozzarella and quark, a cheese […]
How many planets would be needed if everyone lived like the Swiss?
Humans are eating up the earth faster than it can regenerate. And some of us are consuming much more than others. Luxembourgers, the biggest consumers, gobble up natural resources at nearly 40 times the speed of those in Eritrea, the lowest consumers, according to the Global Footprint Network. Adding up global human consumption shows we suck up more from the earth […]
Swiss watch exports to Hong Kong continue to decline but rise elsewhere
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Swiss watch exports fell for an eighth consecutive month as shipments to Hong Kong extended a one-year rut caused by rich Chinese traveling to cheaper locations to buy expensive timepieces. Shipments slid 3.3 percent to 1.65 billion Swiss francs ($1.7 billion) in February, or by 7.9 percent adjusted for the […]
Swiss market down despite rise in world index
18 March 2016 – Swiss and global market roundup. Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The SMI is set to finish lower this week (-1.83%), underperforming the MSCI World (+1.03% ) as US stocks gained after the Federal Reserve scaled back expectations for the path of interest-rate increases on Wednesday. Stocks around the world gained mid-week […]
Some Geneva NGOs have committed to paying interns. Most haven’t.
This week 27 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Geneva pledged to pay their interns. After various campaigns pushing for change like the “Pay your interns” initiative, or the media stunt by New Zealand intern David Hyde, who camped on the shore of Lake Geneva to highlight the issue, NGOs in Geneva have heard these calls and are now […]
Switzerland ranked less happy in 2016. Does it matter?
The quest for happiness has been in the news a bit lately. Earlier this month Switzerland’s president recommended laughter in a televised speech to commemorate the Swiss day of the sick. On Sunday 20 March 2016, happiness is back on the agenda. This time in Rome where UN world happiness day celebrations will take place. Ahead of […]
The airline seat that could lead to waistline based pricing
A recently published US patent application, made by Airbus, shows a reconfigurable aircraft seat that could accommodate anything from a slender family of four to two larger adults. The image above shows the family configuration, despite the two in the middle looking more like shrunken adults than children. This image shows the seat configured for two […]
