More job cuts: Swiss media group slashes 34 posts; legislators debate including French lessons in Swiss-German primary schools; and more news in our Tuesday roundup.
More cuts: Swiss media group slashes 34 jobs
Tamedia, Switzerland’s largest private media group, announced on Monday that “as part of its ongoing transformation,” the company plans to cut 34 full-time positions across Switzerland.
“The newsrooms in Zurich, Bern, and Basel, as well as those in Lausanne and Geneva, are affected” by the redundancies, Tamedia said.
READ MORE:More companies in Switzerland announce jobs cuts this autumn
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Government recommends approval of the VAT increase to finance the 13th pension
On November 29th, Swiss voters will decide on whether the AHV /AVS state pension should be funded through an increase of value-added tax (VAT).
According to the government, this additional money will help finance the 13th penson, set to be paid out for the first time in December 2026.
Without this additional revenue, however, the pension fund will face increasing financial difficulties, as its deficit is growing rapidly.
The Federal Council and Parliament are therefore urging voters to approve the proposed 0.4-percent VAT increase.
Legislators debate including French lessons in Swiss-German primary schools
The Federal Council intends to enshrine in the Languages Act a requirement that a second national language be taught already in primary schools.
The consultation period on this issue ended on Monday, with parties offering widely divergent views on the government’s proposal and not reaching any kind of consensus in this matter.
An FDP deputy Bettina Balmer argued, for example, that “we need to focus primarily on the mother tongue right now, because learning a foreign language at an early age is not always better”.
On the other hand, Green Party deputy Katharina Prelicz-Huber pointed out that the earlier children start this process, “the better-off they will be.”
READ MORE: Is Zurich breaking Swiss law by scrapping French lessons in primary schools?
Tenants’ association sounds the alarm over the continued rent burden
Rents in Switzerland have risen by around 32 percent over the past 20 years, while mortgage interest rates have dropped to a historic low, the association said on Monday.
The reference interest rate currently stands at 1.25 percent.
Since rents are legally linked to this rate, many of them should have fallen but in reality they have continued to rise.
At the same time “affordable apartments are disappearing,” the association pointed out: since 2020, the share of apartments with a monthly rent of under 1,500 francs has dropped by 39 percent.
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