Switzerland Today

Greetings from Bern,

What’s the best work model: every day in the office, every day at home or something in between? Actually it’s a trick question – the “Federer work model” is clearly superior to everything: knacker your knee and earn more than CHF80 million.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

In the News:  Roger Federer was by far the highest earning tennis player in the world over the past 12 months, making some $90.6 million before taxes.

• Federer, who skipped this year’s Australian and US Open owing to a dodgy knee, won less than $1 million in prize money, with the bulk of his income coming from endorsements, according to Forbes business magazineExternal link. Japan’s Naomi Osaka is the second-highest earner on the list, with $60.1 million in pre-tax income, more than 90% of which she made off court. By the way, it’s not too late to vote in our poll of whether Federer is the Greatest of All Time – more than 1,700 people have already done so.
• A survey published today looks at workers’ changing attitudes towards the office and hybrid work models. It found that 58% of Swiss workers are keen to see colleagues again but almost half (49%) would like to continue to work some days at home. This is slightly below the global average (53%). But remote working is not the ideal solution for everyone: one in three people said their mental health had suffered during the pandemic.

What’s your preferred work model? Let us know!

Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

Will there ever be a free-trade agreement (FTA) between Switzerland and the United States?

Former US Vice President Mike Pence (remember him?) has backed the idea in a speech to the Swiss Economic Forum in Interlaken. “If the Trump administration had been able to stay for another four years, this free-trade deal could have been concluded,” Pence said. In January 2020 Donald Trump raised hopes when he said he wanted an FTA with Switzerland, but this soon turned to disappointment as US priorities shifted elsewhere.

The idea of kickstarting negotiations for an FTA with the US has been around for years, following the collapse of a previous attempt in 2006, but progress has been glacial. Former Swiss Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann mooted the idea of reviving FTA talks in 2018, but initial efforts yielded little joy.

At the start of Joe Biden’s presidency in January 2021, Jacques Pitteloud, the Swiss ambassador to the US, was sceptical about the possibility of securing a deal, saying the Biden administration would have to deal with much bigger problems before turning to Switzerland.

The US is Switzerland’s second-largest trading partner after the European Union.

Industrial Light And/PA Media/DPA/Keystone

ABBA are back! Yes, I know they’re Swedish not Swiss (frequently mixed up, mind you), but which member of the palindromic supergroup lives in Switzerland?

If you said Anni-Frid (pictured in green) – I’ll accept Frida – pat yourself on your sequined shoulder. Anni-Frid Lyngstad – or Her Serene Highness Princess Anni-Frid, Dowager Countess of Plauen, to give her her full title – has lived in the mountain resort of Zermatt for years.

Grasping for absolutely any good news, the Swiss media have gone all nostalgic – with predictable ‘Mamma Mia’ headlines!External link – after ABBA announced their first new album in four decades. The group have sold more than 385 million albums and topped charts from Australia to America with a string of hits including Waterloo, The Winner Takes It All and Take A Chance On Me.

The album Voyage will come out on November 5, and a series of virtual concerts using digital avatars will be held in London next year.