The number of cross-border workers in Switzerland has grown

At the end of March, there were nearly 400,000 G-permit holders employed in Switzerland — that is 4.3 percent more than during the same period in 2023.

This is what emerges from new data published on Monday by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

A little more than half of this workforce (57.4 percent) comes from France. Over 23 percent live in Italy, and 16.2 percent in Germany.

Over the past five years, the number of cross-border commuters has grown by 21.8 percent, FSO reported. 

READ ALSO: Who can work in Switzerland but live in a neighbouring country? 

Swiss banks cut interest rates on savings
 
After the Swiss National Bank (SNB) cut its interest rate by quarter point, from 1.75 to 1.50 percent, in March, the expectation was that returns on savings would dwindle as well. 

This is what has been happening for the past month, Roland Bron, director of VZ consulting company, said in an interview on Monday. 

Since the SNB’s announcement, about 10 Swiss banks have already reduced interest rates on savings accounts, and “we expect others to follow this policy as well,” he said.

New Swiss army knife will have no…knife

The legendary manufacturer of the Swiss army knife, Victorinox, is working on a ‘pocket knife’ without a blade. The increasing safety regulations have prompted the company to make this drastic change.

“The blade creates a weapon image in some markets,” said company CEO Carl Elsener in an interview on Monday.

This is not the first time that the company has been confronted with the fact that the blade of its iconic pocket knife is seen as a possible weapon. After the terrorist attacks in the USA on September 11, 2001, sales of army knives fell by over 30 percent overnight, according to Elsener.

“This event showed us that we must not become dependent on a single business area,” he said.

READ ALSO: Do Swiss soldiers really use the army knife? 

Is coronavirus making a comeback in Switzerland?

A new Covid variant, KP.2, has recently been detected, and is currently spreading in the Unites States.

It appears to have higher transmissibility compared to previous Omicron sub-variants.

This in itself is not surprising as Covid viruses are constantly evolving and mutating.

However, Swiss health officials say that this particular variant has not, to date, been detected in Switzerland.

“The situation is being monitored closely,” the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) pointed out, adding that epidemiologists “consider the risk of a larger wave in the near future to be low. However, a more precise assessment cannot yet be made.” 

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