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ZURICH

Swiss employers to reinstate working from home in winter in event of gas shortages

Just a few months after the Covid working-from-home requirement was scrapped, some Swiss companies have said they will reintroduce it to save money on heating.

Published: 19 July 2022 12:03 CEST
This winter, Swiss workers may be working from home again. Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash
This winter, Swiss workers may be working from home again. Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is having far reaching consequences, including a likely gas shortage this winter. 

The Association of Swiss Energy Companies states that the risk of a power shortage is “real and large”.

As a result, the Swiss government and Swiss companies are looking at ways they may be able to save money. 

Swiss companies to cut heat and ask employees to work from home

One option, as reported in the Swiss media, is to reduce heating costs in offices by asking employees to work from home. 

Swiss news outlet 20 Minutes reached out to several companies to ask for their plans in the instance of a gas shortage. 

Insurance giant Axa said the first step would be to lower temperatures in offices, before rearranging office space so that only certain areas were heated. 

The next step would be to ask employees to work from home. 

Swiss Post confirmed that asking employees to work from home would be the first step, should a gas shortage push heating costs up. 

‘It could hit us hard’: Switzerland prepares for impending gas shortage

If gas shortages persist, cantons could put in place gas rationing systems, whereby industry groups would have to adhere to gas quotas. 

Private individuals and other institutions such as hospitals and schools would not be impacted by this rationing as they are given protected status. 

Industry associations have spoken out against the situation, saying they are experiencing unfair treatment. 

Zurich government councillor Patrick Neukom countered, saying that while he understood the frustrations of industry groups, they should take this time to push forward an energy transition away from Russian gas and towards renewables. 

Zurich residents asked to keep homes cooler in winter

While working from home might save companies money, it is likely to push the onus on workers – many of whom will be working in colder homes anyway. 

Gas crisis: Zurich residents urged to keep homes colder this winter

In order save electricity, the city’s government will call on households to lower the temperature from the usual 23 degrees to 20. 

“If all households were to implement this, it would make a difference overall,” said Martin Neukom, head of Zurich’s construction sector.

Other cantons are getting ready for the impending gas crisis as well, not ruling out countrywide restrictions on electricity consumption.

Lidl is developing emergency plan for blackouts, other retailers also ‘well prepared’

Due to the expected  gas shortage, Lidl Switzerland is setting up a worst-case-scenario contingency plans to be implemented in case of blackouts.

“We are observing developments in the energy sector very closely and are in the process of working out the necessary emergency plans”, the company spokesperson said, without disclosing further details.

Other large retail chains are devising plans  as well in case they are plunged into darkness.

“Basically, we feel well prepared. There is no reason to panic; even meticulous preparations for extreme scenarios do not mean that they will have to be implemented”, Migros spokesperson said.

Coop and Manor also have various contingency plans in place, they said, while at Aldi, “we are always following the current situation closely and evaluating it as part of our crisis management in order to adapt our existing emergency concepts if necessary”.

READ MORE: How is Switzerland preparing for power outages this winter?

How reliant is Switzerland on Russian gas?

While the reliance on Russian oil is comparatively minimal, Switzerland has a heavier reliance on Russian gas. 

Natural gas provides around an eighth of Switzerland’s total energy supply.

Problematically, Switzerland does not have any capacity to store gas in order to prevent insecurity of supply. This is despite a federally mandated store of a variety of other things, including foodstuffs and medication. 

Ukraine invasion: How reliant is Switzerland on Russia for energy?

Switzerland buys most of its gas through various European distribution centres, although an estimated 47 percent of this is of Russian origin. 

 

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ZURICH

Growth spurt: What Zurich needs to do to accommodate 2 million residents

Switzerland's biggest city Zurich is becoming more densely populated. With the population expected to pass the 2 million mark in the coming years authorities are devising plans to make it liveable for new residents.

Published: 29 April 2024 15:08 CEST
Growth spurt: What Zurich needs to do to accommodate 2 million residents

At the end of 2023, over 1.6 million people lived in Zurich, Switzerland’s most populous canton.

But this number is far from static.

The population is continuing to grow — so much so, that it will reach the 2-million mark in the coming years, cantonal authorities said in a press release.

This means an increase of around 450,000 people within the next two decades — a 28-percent growth rate, which is “significantly higher than the Swiss average.”

The primary reason for this hike, accounting for 49 percent of the increase, is immigration, followed by births (44 percent) and, to a lesser degree (7 percent), people moving to Zurich from other Swiss regions

On one hand, this is good news because “it is evidence of the canton’s attractiveness and economic prosperity,” authorities pointed out.

On the other, however, this demographic evolution will create a number of new problems and exacerbate the already existing ones.

That is why “strategic decisions are needed on how to handle challenges facing various areas,”  cantonal officials said.

‘Dealing with consequences’

With this ‘growth spurt,’ Zurich will experience many of the same challenges as Switzerland on the whole will, as demographers are expecting the country’s population to swell to 10 million (from the current 9 million) people in the coming years. 

Just as the federal government has started to think about the best ways to prepare the country’s infrastructure for the growing numbers, Zurich’s authorities too will be “shaping this growth” and “dealing with its consequences.”

To achieve this goal, they have launched the ‘Growth 2050” project to begin in the summer, which will  examine “which approach is most suitable for strategically addressing the challenges ahead,” according to the press release.

What exactly does this mean?

While the project’s findings will not be made public until 2027, authorities will have to ensure that Zurich’s infrastructure, such as housing, public transport, as well as school and healthcare systems, will not crumble under pressure, but be able to function optimally — from both the financial and practical perspectives — in the new context.

While all these areas are important, in Zurich’s case, housing appears to be a particular problem as more residents move into the canton.

With  tens of thousands of foreign nationals having settled in Zurich in the past few years, for instance, affordable housing had become scarcer — a situation that has continued to deteriorate and is expected to grow worse as more residents continue to arrive in the future.

READ ALSO: Zurich hit by affordable housing shortage amid record-high immigration

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