Coronavirus: 15% of the Swiss working population with partial unemployment
saturday, 28.03.2020
news-single-imgcaption" style="width:240px">Currently, more than 750,000 people in Switzerland are partially unemployed. (Keystone)
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Currently, more than 750,000 people in Switzerland are partially unemployed, or 15% of the working population, announced on Saturday to the press the director of SECO Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch. In Ticino, 39% of the working population is affected by reduced working hours.
In some cantons, the rate is 20% or more. “It’s huge. We have never seen that in Switzerland,” said the director of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco). The sectors of gastronomy and hotels, culture, transport and trade are the most concerned.
In two weeks, 13,500 more people were unemployed. The rate increased by 0.3 percentage points.
Regarding emergency credits, 15,900 agreements were concluded until Friday evening, a “real assault”. The Federal Council has made 14 billion francs available for unemployed and partially unemployed people. This fund has no liquidity problems.
Unblocking
On the front of blockages of emergency equipment by other countries, the situation has relaxed, assured the director of Seco. There are no longer any problems with Germany and the material will be delivered shortly.
With France and Italy, partial solutions have been found. The masks blocked by France have been partially released. “We have contacts at the highest level so that there are no more blockages,” said Ms. Ineichen-Fleisch.
Other problems have arisen, however, such as customs formalities and especially difficulties in transport and production, all over the world. Companies must organize themselves differently, for example by making more use of freight planes. (awp)
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