Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
The Swiss housing market is once again a talking point, more specifically who is allowed to purchase real estate.
In order to address the housing shortage, the Swiss government wants to make it more difficult for foreigners to buy property.
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The situation on the Swiss housing market is tense. For this reason, the Federal Council today opened the consultation on the revision of the so-called Lex Koller.
Specifically, citizens of countries outside the EU and the EFTA will have to obtain a permit to buy an apartment in Switzerland in the future. If they move away, they will have to sell their property within two years.
Stricter rules are also to apply to foreigners who want to acquire commercial real estate. Acquisition for personal use remains permitted, but pure investments, such as for renting income, are to be prohibited.
In order to restrict the purchase of holiday homes by people abroad, the Federal Council wants to further reduce the cantonal permit quotas. In addition, persons abroad are to be prohibited in principle from acquiring listed shares in residential real estate companies and shares in real estate funds that are regularly traded on the market.
In addition to Lex Koller, the Federal Council has once again dealt with the savings package 27. In a statement, the government writes that the budget cuts approved by parliament are not sufficient to compensate for the deficit in the 2027 budget. In concrete terms, a structural deficit of around CHF600 million remains, which is why the Federal Council has decided on new measures. These include, among other things, a redistribution of funds between national research and innovation funding and the EU’s research framework programmes.
‘An immediate end to hostilities in Lebanon’: This is the demand of a joint statement by 10 nations, including Switzerland.
The call follows a first meeting between Israeli and Lebanese representatives in Washington, which is expected to lead to the start of direct negotiations between the warring parties. The signatory countries are “deeply concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation and the displacement crisis in Lebanon,” the statement said.
The 10 countries called for “respect for international humanitarian law” in order to preserve human dignity, minimise damage to the civilian population and allow humanitarian aid. “We strongly condemn actions that have led to the deaths of UN peacekeepers and significantly increased the risks to humanitarian personnel in southern Lebanon,” the statement reads.
The AI company Anthropic, developer of the Claude large language model, is expanding its location in Zurich and is looking for skilled workers. An annual salary of between CHF280,000 and CHF680,000 is offered.
A salary that is above the industry average for AI developers in Switzerland. According to an evaluation by the job platform Swissdevjobs.ch, the average annual salary for AI engineers in Switzerland is CHF113,600.
However, the upper ranges of the wage range offered by Anthropic are only accessible to top executives, Gregory Tomasik of Swissdevjobs.ch told the Tages-Anzeiger . This is associated with high expectations of performance and commitment. In other words, no “nine-to-five” hours.
The annual salary advertised by Anthropic is in line with the global market situation: In the US, too, large tech companies are trying to poach top talent with sometimes extreme compensation packages.
Do you own pots and pans from Kuhn Rikon? If you bought them in Switzerland they’re probably ‘Swiss Made’, otherwise they’re most likely ‘Made in China’.
This year, Kuhn Rikon is celebrating its 100th anniversary, which is why the Tages-Anzeiger visited the kitchen utensils manufacturer’s factory in Zurich’s Tösstal valley. “We still do a lot by hand here. In other factories, much more is automated,” production manager Javier Castilla told the newspaper.
Some of the work is reminiscent of the factory’s long tradition: “An elderly worker in blue overalls taps the underside of each pot with a metal rod. It can tell from the sound whether the floor has been soldered correctly,” observes the Tages-Anzeiger.
Kuhn Rikon employs 270 people worldwide of which around 40 people work in production at the plant in Tösstal. The pan manufacturer intends to hold on to its Swiss location. Around 30% of its products are manufactured in Germany, 10% elsewhere in Europe and 60% in China. “Products from Europe are often more expensive and their quality does not quite match that of China,” says CEO Tobias Gerfin. According to him, today, the “Made in China” label stands for top quality.
Thanks to the cheaper pans from China, expensive domestic production can be maintained. This mainly supplies the Swiss market, where Kuhn Rikon generates 45% of its sales. “Swiss customers like to buy Swiss brands,” says Gerfin. Around two-thirds of the products sold in Switzerland therefore bear the “Swiss Made” label.
But the Swiss market is also dependent on cheap production from abroad. “Our company would probably be half as big on the Swiss market without this hybrid production model,” says Gerfin.
Translated using AI/ac
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