Stories making the Sunday papers

The Swiss passport is about to be redesigned Keystone

Swiss newspapers on Sunday have revealed there will be more job losses at the state-owned Swiss Post, there's going to be a new look for the Swiss passport and Switzerland’s army of cross-border workers could potentially cost hundreds of millions of francs in benefits.

More job losses expected at Swiss Post

Swiss Post plans to cut staffing costs by 30% by 2020, according to an internal memo seen by various Sunday newspapers. The state-owned company employs around 62,000 people. Spokesman Olivier Flüeler said although there would be cuts in the coming years, the 30% figure “in no way meant that one in three jobs” would go. Swiss Post had already announced the closure of 600 branches earlier this year. According to the Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper that will involve up to 1,440 jobs.

New look for Swiss passport

The red and white Swiss passport should have a revamp by the year 2020. “The new design and security features will be developed in the next two to three years,” the Federal Office for Logistics confirmed to the Ostschweiz am Sonntag. The cost is estimated to be CHF150 million ($146 million). According to the newspaper, the Aargauer Gemalto firm secured the contract to carry out the redesign via a public tender. The current Swiss passport has been around since March 2010. This year around 700,000 were issued.

Feel-good donations

A majority of people who donate to charity are not interested in knowing if their money actually had an effect. A survey by the federal technology institute ETH Zurich found only 18% of people surveyed asked for information about the impact of their donation. “Apparently for most donors, the feeling of goodwill, of giving something, is more important,” the study authors told the NZZ am Sonntag. Three-quarters of the Swiss population made a donation in the last year to charities, which added up to around CHF1.8 billion, according to the newspaper.

Cross-border worker benefits may go up

European Union proposals to change the unemployment benefits system for cross-border workers could ratchet up hundreds of millions of francs of extra costs for Switzerland, reports the NZZ am Sonntag. The European Commission wants workers who lose their jobs to receive benefits from the country where they were last employed. Switzerland currently pays benefits for its 314,000 cross-border workers for a maximum of five months.

Infantino pledges more open FIFA

Football has its work cut out when it comes to transparency, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said in an interview with the Schweiz am Sonntag. “When it comes to the flow of money in football, we still have a lot of work to do,” the Swiss head of football told the newspaper. In particular, the transfer business must be made more transparent.

Swiss of the year

Solar Impulse adventurer Bertrand Piccard is the Swiss of the year, according to Le Matin Dimanche. The newspaper devoted a nine-page spread to the man behind the first solar-powered plane to go around the world. With stops in 17 destinations, the plane managed to cover almost 43,000km (26,718 miles) without a single drop of jet fuel. The project broke other records too including the first intercontinental flight and the longest-ever solo flight for any pilot in any aircraft. Le Matin Dimanche looked back at Piccard’s family of adventurers and interviewed his wife, Michèle Piccard, who reassured the newspaper that she slept “very well at night” despite her husband’s exploits.