Zurich and two other Swiss cites voted the ‘smartest in the world; and other news in our roundup on Wednesday.
Three Swiss cities are among top-10 ‘smartest’ in the world — again
For the sixth consecutive time since the survey had begun in 2020, Zurich nabbed the top spot in the 2025 ‘Smart City Index,’ carried out annually be the IMD Business Institute in Lausanne. The 2025 edition was released on Tuesday.
Of the 146 cities surveyed, Zurich scored the highest, landing in the first place.
Next are Geneva (third place) and Lausanne (10th).
The IMD’s findings are determined by the “balanced focus on economic and technological aspects of cities on the one hand, and ‘humane dimensions’ (quality of life, environment, and inclusiveness) on the other.”
READ ALSO: What makes Zurich a ‘smarter’ city than Geneva and Lausanne?
Swiss wages increased and purchasing power improved in 2024
Wages in Switzerland rose by 1.8 percent in 2024, outpacing inflation by 1.1 percent, according to a study released on Tuesday by the Federal Statistical Office.
This increase was higher than in the previous two years — 1.7 percent in 2023 and 0.9 percent in 2022.
The hikes were not, however, uniform but varied by sector.
Overall, employees in healthcare, residential care, and social work saw their salaries go up by 3 percent, while for those working in the insurance industry as well as in public administration wages increased by 2.5 percent, in average.
And some positive news also emerged on the gender front: across all sectors, women’s wages increased by an average of 2.6 percent, while men’s wages rose by 1.2 percent.
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Geneva-based WHO announces ‘significant’ layoffs amid US funding cuts
The World Health Organization chief said Tuesday that operations and jobs would be slashed as US funding cuts had left the UN agency with a budget hole of several hundred million dollars.
“The sudden drop in income has left us with a large salary gap and no choice but to reduce the scale of our work and workforce,” WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told member states, according to a transcript of his remarks.
The lower end of that spectrum “represents about 25 percent of staff costs” currently, he said, stressing though that “it doesn’t necessarily mean a 25-percent cut to the number of positions”.
The full extent of job losses, however, is not yet known. (AFP)
READ ALSO: How many jobs in Geneva could be lost over US aid cuts?
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