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Swiss among hardest workers in western Europe

This content was published on Mar 29, 2001 The report says the average Swiss worker toils for 42 hours a week, putting them just behind their British counterparts. The average Swiss works almost two hours longer than a German colleague and three-and-a-half hours longer than an Italian. Forty per cent of the workforce works overtime and more people are working evenings and weekends.…

Crisis deepens at Gretag Imaging

This content was published on Mar 29, 2001 The company made a net loss in 2000 of SFr46 million ($26.68 million) as product problems and extraordinary warranty payments weighed on second-half earnings. Gretag Imaging also said that it expected a decline in sales this year and warned that new orders were well below expectations due to the uncertain economic environment in the United…

What’s in a name?

This content was published on Mar 29, 2001 Unaxis (formerly Oerlikon-Bührle), Swisscom, the SAirGroup, Atraxis, Novartis, Syngenta, Clariant, Unique Zurich Airport and Ruag are just a few examples of new or recent names on the scene. Only this week, cement manufacturer Holderbank announced it was changing its name to Holcim and Air Engiadina rebaptised itself Swisswings. There a number of good reasons for…

Holderbank reports solid growth

This content was published on Mar 29, 2001 Presenting the results in Zurich, Holderbank said this year had started well and it predicted higher margins as new plants in the United States came into operation and costs were cut in Latin America, Asia and Oceania. Net sales were up by 14.9 per cent last year to SFr14.012 billion, while cash flow from operations…

Geneva welcomes masters of invention

This content was published on Mar 29, 2001 The organisers boast that about 1,000 inventions will be presented to the public for the first time at the Geneva fair. Most of the exhibitors are members of research departments of high-tech companies, institutes or state organisations. Based on previous years’ experience, about half of the inventions will find a buyer willing to market them.…

More Swiss surf the Internet than ever before

This content was published on Mar 28, 2001 The survey, produced by MMXI Suisse, revealed that Swiss surf the World Wide Web for 12.5 minutes on average per day from home. The most popular Swiss Internet sites include the search engine search.ch and the Swiss Federal Railways web site. The American search engines Yahoo and Altavista are also included in the top ten…

Legal action over Swiss apartheid relations gets closer

This content was published on Mar 28, 2001 The South African branch of the non-governmental organisation, the Jubilee 2000 Coalition, says it is continuing to carry out research about international links to the apartheid system that formally ended in 1994. Class action suits could involve financial institutions and companies in the United States, Germany and Britain as well as Switzerland. Its spokesman, Neville…

Government adopts new measures against BSE

This content was published on Mar 28, 2001 The main changes to protect consumers from BSE are in the slaughtering techniques. The compressed air method and a technique that uses vibrations to destroy the base of the brain are being stopped to prevent brain tissue from entering the circulatory system. The veterinary authorities have also decided to ensure the removal of organs in…

Real cannibals are picky eaters

This content was published on Mar 28, 2001 Mondher Kilani said rules govern both ritual cannibalism, practised by societies, and individual cases like Issei Sagawa from Japan, who admitted murdering a French friend in a Paris apartment in 1981 and devouring parts of her body. “Even in isolated examples, it’s noticeable that cannibals often have a relationship with the victim,” Kilani told swissinfo.…

Family watch firm stands test of time

This content was published on Mar 28, 2001 In a watch industry faced with a concentration of forces putting large marketing budgets to win market share, Mondaine stands out as a family business that has stood the test of time. History recalls that the founder of the company, Erwin Bernheim, aged 75, should have been a tailor but an introduction to the watch…

Cluster: Archive

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