After "excursions" into more geopolitical topics, the 25th edition of the SEF is once again dedicated to the "core business": SMEs as the backbone of the Swiss economy. The "hidden champions" should be brought back into focus. What are their recipes for success? And where do the challenges lie? Because there are plenty of them at the moment, as is well known. The SEF, for example, was originally born out of a crisis: In 1991, the Spar- und Leihkasse Thun (savings and loan bank) crashed, leaving behind an immense trail of damage, especially in the Bernese Oberland. In addition, there was a time in Switzerland in general that was characterized by stagnation, encrusted structures and a real estate crisis. Instead of lamenting, however, the Bernese Oberland chose a forward strategy and thus laid the foundation for the development of the SEF from a rather regional event into a major event, to which important personalities from abroad - Kofi Annan (2009), Tony Blair (2010), Nicolas Sarkozy (2014), Mike Pence (2021) - repeatedly paid their respects.

SEF.23 with focus on SMEs

This year, the SEF was opened by President Alain Berset. With a view to the current situation and the upcoming challenges, such as the climate and energy crisis, he called for renewed trust between business and politics. In doing so, he also emphasized that one of the strengths of Swiss companies in particular is that they always want to learn from the best. "That is why we are top in competitiveness and innovation," said Alain Berset.

And companies such as Röthlisberger Schreinerei AG from Gümligen, Jakob Rope Systems from Trubschachen or Rausch AG Kreuzlingen are among such top performers. All three family-owned companies can certainly be counted among the SME elite. But they cannot rest on their laurels. The current challenges are different. For example, Sandra Banholzer, head of Rausch AG Kreuzlingen, a manufacturer of hair care products, said that the company is constantly on the lookout for new ideas to better appeal to customers for a traditional product. "We see tradition as a strength, but hardly anyone knows that," was her answer to the question of whether it was perhaps tradition that proved to be a hurdle in marketing to the younger generation (see also her interview with our magazine). Beat Röthlisberger, CFO of his family-run company with two main divisions, furniture and interior design, including an in-house engineering department and air-conditioning technology, sees the shortage of skilled workers as the main problem. "It's getting harder and harder to find people who have the passion to learn a craft and participate in its success," Röthlisberger said. Peter Jakob, CEO of Jakob Rope Systems, which manufactures wire ropes for a wide variety of applications, on the other hand, recommended looking on the bright side. "We see too much only the negative things all the time. In many countries, people lost everything during the Corona crisis, while here in Switzerland we came through just fine. We are good at complaining, but enormously privileged at the same time." A statement that was acknowledged by the audience with applause.

"Never waste a good crisis"

But how does the SME elite mentioned above deal with problems? For Beat Röthlisberger, the forward strategy is paramount. That's why his company has created its own furniture collection for upscale demands and also set up branches in New York and London. Sandra Banholzer, on the other hand, is like Winston Churchill: "Never waste a good crisis. This forces one to be constantly creative and innovative. As an example, she mentioned the development of a new extract from apples in cooperation with local farmers, when it was a question of finding alternatives for faltering supply chains. The family structure also proves to be an advantage, said Peter Jakob. "As a family business, we are not beholden to shareholders and can operate for the long term." Asked whether a family does not also have a considerable potential for conflict, which is ultimately not beneficial to the company, Beat Röthlisberger said: "Intra-family conflicts are necessary. Sometimes it is necessary to speak plainly behind closed doors.

And how do SMEs see the role of the state? Politicians repeatedly talk about easing the administrative burden on SMEs. Sandra Banholzer conceded that entrepreneurship is indeed held back by a lot of paperwork. But she put it into perspective: "We often complain at a high level. We just have to talk to each other, and then something can be done.

Initiative for the energy future of Switzerland presented

In addition to the exchange about current challenges of SMEs, other topics were also in focus on the first day of SEF.23. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Swiss National Bank President Thomas Jordan discussed the current economic situation and called for moderate intervention by central banks to prevent inflation from rising even further. Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov was asked about the current Ukraine crisis and showed himself to be a staunch critic of the Russian invasion, but also pointed to mistakes made by the West, which had failed to recognize in time what Vladimir Putin really had on his agenda since coming to power. And referring to his 1997 defeat by the chess computer "Deep Blue," he said AI was just a technology. "Machines make fewer mistakes," Kasparov said, and that had been the reason a machine had defeated him.

And finally, SEF.23 was also about the "Future of Energy in Switzerland". Here, a new initiative called "Coalition for Green Energy & Storage" was presented. In the face of a combined energy and climate crisis, Switzerland must act to transform its energy system, said Joël Mesot and Martin Vetterli, presidents of ETH and EPFL, respectively. Together with partners and funders from science and industry, the two federal universities are therefore launching an ambitious initiative together with PSI and Empa to develop scalable solutions for a climate-neutral and independent energy system.

More information and impressions: www.swisseconomic.ch

Skills shortages, quiet quitting, changing values: HR has been in a perma-crisis for years. HR topics have accordingly gained significantly in attention in companies; in the same course, the demands of management and employees on HR teams are increasing. Nevertheless, HR is still hardly integrated into the corporate strategy. In addition, the HR department often does not yet have the necessary tools to fully exploit its potential and proactively tackle future issues. This is the result of a study by Personio, an HR software provider for small and medium-sized enterprises, in which 1,000 HR managers and 500 C-level executives from companies with up to 2,000 employees in the DACH region were surveyed.

Finding new forms of collaboration

66 % of executives believe that the importance of HR will continue to grow in the future. 34 % want HR to be a strategic partner. However, because HR departments are often only sporadically involved in corporate strategy and are often entrusted with repetitive and reactive tasks, it is difficult to actually address strategic goals. For example, 69 % of HR teams say that administrative tasks keep them from working on strategic issues. So there needs to be a shift in thinking: Companies would be well advised to create new structures and put the current form of collaboration to the test.

HR needs a seat at the management table

The first step is to create the framework conditions for this. Management and HR must gain a deeper understanding of the topics and priorities of the other position. Above all, however, management should actively involve HR in strategic decisions and make more resources available for future-oriented HR work. However, some 47 % of the C-level executives surveyed admit they do not even know exactly how they could effectively and strategically deploy their HR team.

More strategic HR also includes digital technologies that enable data-driven decisions: According to 71 % of C-level executives surveyed, metrics and key performance indicators that show how HR is paying down to business goals are important. Digital solutions help provide these. An HR team that brings data-driven suggestions to increase workforce engagement and productivity is much more likely to speak the "language" of the executive team; and ensure a common point of view is developed and shared across the organization. In fact, HR teams benefit from digitization twice: by automating repetitive, administrative tasks, they are supported and can devote more time to more strategic issues - for example, to establish a modern and sustainable corporate culture or to take care of the needs and further development of employees.

Staying on the ball with artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) also plays a key role in this context: Although it cannot and should not replace personal employee interviews, it will also significantly change HR work in the future. Two-thirds (66 %) of the C-level respondents are convinced of this. Since the topic is just now gaining momentum, company-wide training is eminently important. Just under 75 % of the corporate decision-makers surveyed state that HR departments must continue to familiarize themselves with the topic of AI in order to keep their finger on the pulse. However, this is by no means limited to AI: 58 % of the C-level decision-makers surveyed do not currently feel that their HR team has the necessary technical and analytical skills to keep pace with digital transformation.

"HR teams need to reinvent themselves and unleash their full potential. With the right tools, it will be easier in the future to understand complex issues like the skills shortage, quantify the impact and present solutions to the C-level. The same is true for issues such as understanding around Gen-Z requirements and the discussion around remote working. HR departments are the key link between the employee:inside and the C-level - and that connection needs to be not just managed, but proactively built," says Cassandra Hoermann, Head of Employer Brand & Experience at Personio. "With the support of AI, which has the potential to dramatically improve the employee experience, now is the time to reboot HR."

Source: Personio

Healthy, varied and delicious: menuandmore's meals provide a balanced diet every day for children and young people who attend childcare programs at schools or daycare centers. This is the customer promise of the provider of catering for children and young people. In recent years, the company has invested a lot of heart and soul in further developing and expanding its market leadership position. The fifth sustainability report now provides an overview of specific activities and projects with a focus on partnerships. And extraordinary achievements are documented in other ways as well: for example, menuandmore has been completely glutamate-free since 2022, demand for vegetarian menus increased from 38 % (2020) to 46 % (2022) during the reporting period, and 47 % of imported products have a credible sustainability label.

Fifth sustainability report with mixed overall results

The fifth sustainability report is the result of many hours of work and a strategy process lasting several months, according to the company. At the heart of the report is a sound materiality analysis. In the analysis conducted, the "double materiality" approach was used to determine the sustainability issues relevant to the company. For potentially material topics, menuandmore had the impact of its activities on the economy, society and the environment assessed on the one hand, and analyzed the impact on long-term business success on the other. Even though, despite the challenging past years, numerous advances and projects could again be implemented, the overall balance on target achievement for the sustainability period 2020 to 2022 does not correspond to what menuandmore had originally set out to achieve - for various reasons.

Global events influence corporate goals

The past sustainability period was a challenging time, says menuandmore. On the one hand, it was marked by the Corona pandemic from 2020 and its resulting long-term consequences, which also presented menuandmore with new, unforeseen challenges. And on the other hand, the war in Ukraine from 2022 onwards led to additional challenges in terms of availability and costs for food and energy. Due to the school closures announced by the Federal Council at extremely short notice from 13 to 16 March 2020, buyers had to be found as quickly as possible for meals that had already been prepared in order to avoid food waste. Thousands of meals were donated to organizations such as Caritas, AOZ, Schweizer Tafel and the Autonome Schule Zürich. A fruitful and cordial partnership then developed with the initiator of the "Food for All" campaign, the former refugee Amine Diare Conde.

Partnerships: "It's the exchange that takes us forward".

The Corona pandemic has once again clearly shown how important it is to stand together and work in solidarity for a sustainable world, it continues. "It is the honest exchange that moves us all forward. And it is the joint initiatives that inspire us and make things possible that we can only dream of on our own," explains Managing Director Markus Daniel. The "Food for All" campaign is - as mentioned - a good example of this. menuandmore supported the campaign for several weeks with 1,000 meals at a symbolic price.

menuandmore has also cultivated existing partnerships and initiated new ones - with the ZHAW, the SOS Children's Village Foundation Switzerland, Caritas, or in the area of digitalization with ProCloud. According to the report, partnerships based on the same value systems make the decisive difference for a joint contribution to a sustainable planet.

Sustainable business is the future

With the introduction of day schools, more and more children in Switzerland are being cared for outside the family. At the same time, the demand and need for healthy, sustainable catering is increasing. With its consistent focus on sustainability for many years, as well as the findings from the past business years, the SME is looking positively into a future of sustainable business. After years of intensive search, menuandmore is moving from its long-standing production site at Sihlquai in Zurich to its new location at ECOPARK TIVOLI in Spreitenbach in 2025. In the company's opinion, it is currently the best address for responsible companies in the Zurich area. In concrete terms, this means for menuandmore: The catering provider can once again improve in many areas from an ecological point of view, where it has reached its limits at the current location.

More information

The Bühler Technology Group has made caring for its employees a top priority. The Energy Center continues this tradition. After all, in recent years, the demands placed on companies and their employees have increased significantly in many respects. There is general agreement on this, and probably also on the fact that positive energy and knowledge are crucial resources and form the basis for well-being, performance and resilience. These factors have a significant impact on creativity and innovation, and are also important for maintaining business continuity, especially under difficult or changing conditions. Bühler's intention is therefore to invest in a "healthy cycle", because if the employees are doing well, the company will also do well, he is convinced. Coping with the Corona pandemic was just the tip of the iceberg in an increasingly volatile environment. Issues such as personal responsibility, training and development, health management and innovation have taken on even greater significance.

Three supporting pillars

With the Energy Center and its three areas Health & Lifestyle (health management), Lifelong Learning (vocational and adult education), and Prototyping & Production, Bühler is making targeted investments in important future fields. Long-standing traditions of the company would be reinterpreted to create positive perspectives - both for the employees and for the company.

The Health Port offers employees various options for taking care of their health and well-being in addition to primary care and medical care for travel. In addition to lifestyle check-ups or nutritional counseling, there are also offerings that cover the areas of health literacy, fitness, physiotherapy, mental health and relaxation.

Vocational training and adult education reflect other important components of Bühler's corporate culture. In the new premises and through state-of-the-art methods, they are raised to a new level. Apprentices are prepared for the professional world of tomorrow and beyond. Furthermore, all employees have access to customized modules for lifelong learning in order to specifically develop their skills in their active professional lives.

The Prototyping & Production area ensures professional collaboration between the development departments and builds bridges to the Application & Training Centers and Production. As a result, learners from production and product-oriented professions benefit significantly more from a high level of practical relevance and the enormous knowledge of several generations of experts who work together directly here and learn from each other.

Shaping the future 

"The demands on employees in an increasingly complex and dynamic world are very high, and we are well aware of this," says Stefan Scheiber, CEO of Bühler Group. "This makes it all the more important for us to promote the competencies as well as the personal responsibility of our employees. People are at the center here. The Energy Center is made for our employees - young and old - as well as for the employees of our partners as well as our customers." "With the Energy Center, we support our employees to better master their professional as well as private challenges along their life phases currently and in the future - therefore we encourage them: Make di fit!" adds Christof Oswald, Project Manager Bühler Energy Center and Head of Human Resources Switzerland.

The building, whose construction started in November 2021, is located at the interface of Bühler's Application & Training Center, CUBIC, and Production and is thus part of the Bühler Innovation Campus. It exudes openness and combines sustainability, modernity, and vision in equal measure; interior spaces can be flexibly designed to meet both current and future needs. "The most resource-conserving and sustainable implementation possible included, for example, the reuse of concrete from the previous building and the use of low-CO2 cement, and the support structure of the office section was realized entirely in wood," explains Elvis Pidic, architect and Head of Corporate Real Estate Management at Bühler.

Source and further information: Buhler AG

For the first time since 2019, the Annual General Meeting of Bank WIR was held physically at Messe Basel. Back in February, the purely Swiss cooperative bank had presented an increase in profits to 15.7 million Swiss francs, strong loan growth and total assets at a new record level (6.05 billion Swiss francs) for the 2022 financial year. "Especially in this challenging environment with numerous political and economic turmoils, we are particularly proud that our operational strength is once again bearing fruit," CEO Bruno Stiegeler had commented on the result.

Based on years of solid results, the Annual General Meeting approved the dividend of 10.75 Swiss francs proposed by the Board of Directors. As in previous years, the distribution will take the form of an optional dividend ("dividend with reinvestment" or cash dividend) and - calculated on the cash dividend variant - corresponds to a yield of 2.2 percent. The distribution on participation certificates held as private assets is also tax-free. Over the past twelve months, the share price has increased by 9.3 percent.

Marc Reimann to succeed Karin Zahnd Cadoux

In March 2022, the current Chairman of the Board of Directors, Karin Zahnd Cadoux, had already announced that she would not stand for election at the AGM 2023 for personal reasons. The voters followed the proposal of the Board of Directors and elected Marc Reimann as the new Chairman by a large majority. The 42-year-old Reimann has already been a member of the Board of Directors of Bank WIR since 2013 and its Vice Chairman since 2021. The entrepreneur and managing director of Zirkumflex AG in Cham is very familiar with the challenges of Bank WIR's customer base and has been supporting SMEs from various industries as a management consultant since 2018.

Due to the term limit for members of the Board of Directors, a successor for Kornel Tinguely also had to be found. Chantal Lutz and Michael Benes were newly elected to the Board of Directors of Bank WIR. Chantal Lutz (32) is a lawyer at Domenig & Partner Rechtsanwälte AG in Berne with a focus on technology law and heads the IT legal team. Michael Benes (47) holds a degree in business administration and is a certified auditor and audit expert. The re-election of the current board members Germann Wiggli (since 2019), Heinz Fuchs, Christoph Lenz (both since 2021) and Philipp Berger (since 2022) was uncontested.

Amendment of the Articles of Association

In addition, the General Meeting approved an amendment to the Articles of Association that will enable Bank WIR to offer the variants of a ballot and a virtual General Meeting in the future. "This timely and forward-looking step makes it easier for the members of the cooperative to participate in the decisions, which is so important," outgoing president Zahnd Cadoux commented on the decision.

Source: Bank WE

Climate sinners: clothing: Using a ten-point scale, the "Circular Fashion Index 2023 (CFX)," international management consultancy Kearney assesses how fashion companies extend the life cycle of their products in terms of a circular economy. The study examined 200 labels from 20 countries in six apparel categories: sports/outdoor, lingerie, luxury, premium/affordable luxury, mass market and fast fashion. This provides companies in the fashion industry with an objective tool to record their own status and initiate improvement measures with regard to the circular economy - actually. Unfortunately, the authors of the study regret that the results are sobering for the industry.

Fashion industry: one of the biggest polluters of the environment

Despite the fashion pact unveiled at the 2019 G7 Summit in France, the industry remains one of the world's biggest polluters. For example, the average CFX score for all 200 global brands is a meager 2.97 out of 10. "Compared to the 2022 results, all brands score between 2 and 6. They have failed to educate consumers about the importance of sustainability and inform them about measures such as recycling, upcycling and clothing rental," says Mirko Warschun, partner at Kearney. "Only 19 of the 200 global brands we surveyed scored more than 5 out of 10, and only the top three brands scored more than 7 across the board. This year's CFX shows that concrete action is needed to close the gap and move the industry toward greater sustainability and circularity," said Frederic Dittmar, co-author of the report and manager at Kearney.

No movement at the top

As in previous years, the top performers are Patagonia, Levi's and The North Face with CFX scores of 8.65, 8.30 and 7.90, respectively. The first two improved slightly: Patagonia, by communicating more about their efforts to recycle more and internally rating the recyclability of their products according to a 10-point program. Similarly, Levi`s, which also communicates its sustainability efforts externally. In addition, the company has launched a dedicated page for recycled denim products. With 6th place in the ranking, the U.S. brand Madewell is the up-and-comer of the year. With its "Madewell Forever" program and the take-back of used goods, the label scores particularly well in the second-hand sector. Swiss outdoor specialist Mammut is also on the right track. It shows up in the areas of recycled materials, communication, care instructions and repair service.

France best average value. India brings up the rear

The regional comparison is also interesting: the majority of the brands surveyed (80 percent) come from the USA, Germany, France, Italy, India and the UK. Five of the ten top-ranked brands come from the USA. France has the best average score of 3.43, but has no label in the top 10, although 50 percent of French brands are in the top quarter with a high proportion of recycled materials. But German brands also do well. German company Esprit, for example, is in the top 10, and Adidas, Hugo Boss and C&A are also in the top quarter. Overall, German brands stand out for their sustainability communication with a score of 3.05. Italian brands are OVS (4th place) and Gucci (5th place), followed by Moncler. Four British brands are in the top 25 percent (Burberry, Alexander McQueen, River Island and Barbour) because of their increased efforts to dispose of old clothes. India is well below average with a CFX score of 1.51. All Indian brands are in the bottom half of the ranking and perform poorly in almost all categories. Source: Kearney The post Fashion industry: little progress in the circular economy appeared first on Organizer.

For years now, the number of pension schemes under private law in Switzerland has been falling: according to figures from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BfS), there are now 33% fewer pension schemes than in 2012 - at the end of 2021, there were just 1,320, compared with 1,982 ten years earlier. At the same time, the number of insured persons increased by just under 20%. The reasons for this development are complex.

 

Regulatory requirements increase costs

On the one hand, increasing regulation led to more security, but on the other hand it also increased costs: general administrative costs, asset management, auditing, experts and supervision. The fixed block of costs, which is incurred irrespective of the number of beneficiaries, became larger and accordingly placed a heavier burden on the smaller funds than on the larger ones. The process of BVG structural reform placed greater responsibility on the boards of trustees, making it increasingly difficult for company-owned pension funds to recruit sufficiently qualified representatives of employers and employees as trustees.

Accounting and financial commitments also play an important role. In particular, this concerns provisions and deficit guarantees on the part of the companies, which can entail potential risks. The required provisions to cover future pension payments, for example, are based on assumptions such as life expectancy, investment returns and inflation. In addition, there is the risk of a deficit guarantee on the part of the companies. This means that any gaps in coverage or deficits of the pension fund must be compensated by the company. This represents a financial risk for the company, especially if the pension assets are not sufficient to cover the obligations. On the one hand, possible hedging through reinsurance minimizes the risk, but on the other hand, it increases the costs, which has a greater impact on smaller pension plans in particular because the premiums for this insurance tend to be higher and is therefore not always sufficiently cost-efficient.

High pensioner populations lead to challenges

In addition, demographic developments are contributing to the death of pension funds in the second pillar. Many pension funds have an excessively high number of old people, i.e. too few active insured persons and thus too few contributors in relation to pensioners. As a result, the funds are faced with the challenge that they are writing imputed losses with every pension withdrawal, which calls into question the long-term security of pension benefits. Accordingly, the financial risk is constantly increasing.

Affiliation of one's own pension fund to a collective foundation is one possible solution: it improves financial stability and reduces risks. In this collective model of pension funds, several companies pool their pension funds, distribute the risks, provisions and deficit guarantees among several companies according to the number of beneficiaries, and thus reduce the financial risk for individual companies evenly. In addition, they benefit from economies of scale and pension know-how.

Affiliation with collective foundation or alternative solutions?

However, affiliation with a collective foundation is subject to conditions. In particular, an excessively high pension portfolio cannot be transferred without further ado due to existing regulations for collective foundations. In addition, an affiliation with a collective foundation can dilute one's own funding ratio, although this figure is still much taken into account when it comes to assessing the financial stability of a pension fund. The structure of the assets to be contributed can also be a hurdle, as many pension plans own directly held real estate or other assets that may not be readily available for sale at market price at a given time.

Options that map specific SME pension solutions are offered by Tellco, one of the leading Swiss providers of pension fund solutions. To minimize the complexity and expense of having your own pension fund, for example, management and/or asset management can be contracted out. The managing director of the collective foundation, Janine Hermann, explains: "We have developed a model in which the pension funds continue to enjoy a great deal of decision-making freedom while still benefiting from the advantages of a collective institution." With Tellco pk's Individua solution, the companies determine the asset manager and the custodian bank, they decide on the conversion rate and the technical interest rate as well as the interest on the retirement assets - of course always in compliance with the regulatory and legal provisions. In addition, there are various included auditing mechanisms such as actuarial reports, ALM analyses and investment controlling. The company can act very independently within the shell of the foundation and benefits, for example, from not having to deal with regulatory adjustments.

Individual decision

It should be noted that both individual and collective models have their advantages and disadvantages. Individual pension plans can give companies the greatest control and flexibility under favorable circumstances, but also financial risks if the beneficiary structure is unfavorable or the market environment is difficult. On the other hand, collective models can spread the risk across several companies, but are more limited in terms of individual adjustments and control. However, according to Janine Hermann of Tellco pk, the decisive factor in choosing a model is to think about one's own needs and goals: "What do you want the new model to accomplish? How much decision-making power and responsibility does the future pension fund commission want to exercise? Should there be dilution/cross-funding with other companies or do you want to remain as independent as possible?"

Ultimately, the choice of model depends on various factors such as the size and financial strength of the company, individual needs and risk tolerances. A thorough review before choosing the most appropriate model is of high importance.

 

This article was written with the kind support of Tellco. 

The situation is not good for the resource water, as Anna Brand already in March for UN World Water Day has made known. The "water crisis" is more serious than the energy crisis, she said at the time, as president-elect of the Zerowaterloss Foundation, which was set up by the Swiss industrialist Brand family. It supports research projects and events that help to counter the new global crisis with innovative water management.

Now Anna Brand is definitely the new president of the foundation. "The preservation of Switzerland's surge tank is of great concern to me," she says today after taking up the post on May 1, 2023. In her senior role, Anna Brand will be responsible for all aspects of the foundation's work, including research collaboration and representing the interests of large segments of the Swiss population in need of a secure water supply. She will support and implement innovative strategies with partners that help achieve the Foundation's goals. Most importantly, it aims to limit water losses, which are still common in today's drinking water supply, and to ensure access to an affordable drinking water supply.

As mentioned, the world is facing an unprecedented water crisis that is taking on a chronic character: More than two billion people have no access to clean drinking water, the foundation writes in this regard. This crisis will become bigger than the current energy crisis, which is overwhelming us with problems. Anna Brand says: "Access to sufficient clean water is a human right. Today, drinking water in Switzerland and around the world is wasted because it's far too cheap for many uses and will be barely affordable as survival water for many people in the future." The Zerowaterloss Foundation, which she leads as its new president, therefore calls for "an understanding of the value of water in its entirety, because an acute water crisis can become a human crisis."

Quelle and further information

This year's graduation ceremony paid tribute to the spirit of innovation demonstrated by the graduates of the Integrated Innovation for Product and Business Development - Innokick, Life Sciences (MLS) and Engineering (MSE) master's programs in the face of current problems. In her address, Sophie Tapparel, Head of HES-SO Master, stressed that the knowledge and skills acquired during their studies have enabled these young people to evolve from professionals in a specific field to those with advanced skills, able to take on current and future challenges.

Master thesis presents approach against lack of exercise

The students of the master's program Innokick were asked by the company InsPoweredBy and by the SiLab of the Institute and the School of Health La Source to develop an approach against the lack of physical activity in the canton of Vaud. The concept they devised encourages young people to engage in an activity that strengthens community ties. Their project particularly impressed the experts on the jury.

Bioplastics from brewery waste

In the MLS, Coralie Granget, graduate of the major in Chemical Development & Production, received an award from the Swiss Association of Graduate Chemists FH (SVC) for her master's thesis. Her work, which is in the context of sustainable development, deals with the use of brewery waste to obtain bioplastics. Gaëtan Baumgartner, who chose the major in Applied Biosciences, received the prize from the Socorex company for his master's thesis, in which he used food biotechnology methods to develop a kefir-based beverage.

In MSE, Cédric Campos Carvalho, who chose to major in Data Science, focused on the use of Machine Learning for preventive detection of heart disease. He classified different heart abnormalities in an innovative way, providing a data engineering solution to a health problem.

Award for the best graduates

Of the 186 master's graduates, 126 earned an MSE degree, 31 completed the Innokick master's program, and 29 received an MLS degree. 76 of the graduates had chosen to study part-time, allowing them to work part-time. The HES-SO Master's Award for the best grade point average went to Fabien Currit, graduate of the MSE, specialization in Mechanical Engineering, Pier-Luca D'Arman, graduate of the Master's Innokick, and Nicholas Wolff, graduate of the MLS, specialization in Viticulture and Enology.

Source: HES-SO

After many rates were reduced in previous years due to the STAF corporate tax reform, there were only isolated, minimal tax rate reductions from 2022 to 2023. The ordinary corporate income tax rates in Switzerland are as follows compared to the previous year slightly - from 14.68% to 14.6%. This is shown by KPMG's "Swiss Tax Report 2023", which compares the profit and income tax rates of over 50 countries and all 26 cantons.

Switzerland's tax landscape: Central Switzerland tops

The largest reductions were made in the cantons of Aargau (-1.16 percentage points) and Basel-Landschaft (-2.07 percentage points). In contrast, the canton of Neuchâtel increased its profit tax rate (+1.32 percentage points). The lowest ordinary profit tax rates continue to exist in the cantons of Central Switzerland, as well as in the cantons of Glarus and Appenzell-Innerrhoden. The canton of Zug leads the ranking of low-tax cantons with a rate of 11.8%, followed by the cantons of Nidwalden (11.97%) and Lucerne (12.15%). The canton of Bern brings up the rear with a profit tax rate of 21.04%. "In the next two years, a further slight decrease is possible, as some cantons will further reduce their tax rates in accordance with the decisions made at the time in the STAF environment. However, individual increases cannot be ruled out either," explains Olivier Eichenberger, corporate tax expert at KPMG.

In an international comparison, Switzerland taxes companies low, especially the cantons of Central Switzerland as well as Basel-Stadt, Geneva and Vaud. Only Guernsey (0.0%), Hungary (9.0%) or Bulgaria (10.0%) offer even lower ordinary profit tax rates. Ireland (12.5%) taxes similarly to Switzerland and thus remains the most important competitor in Europe.

Tax rates for top incomes for private individuals largely unchanged

The average tax rates for private individuals in Switzerland changed minimally compared with previous years on a nationwide average and remained stable at an average maximum tax rate of around 33.45% (-0.07 percentage points). With a tax rate of 22.06 percent, Zug continues to offer the most attractive income taxes in a cantonal comparison, followed by Appenzell Innerrhoden (23.82%), Obwalden (23.3%) and Schwyz (24.98%).

The cantons of western Switzerland, led by Geneva (44.74%), followed by Basel-Landschaft (42.17%) and Vaud (41.5%), continue to bring up the rear. For 2023, the canton of Schaffhausen (29.52%) surprises with 1.22 percentage points lower taxes.

Source: KPMG

Promote non-tax factors

Switzerland would do well to prepare for the coming changes in tax competition, warns the auditing firm KPMG. In order to maintain the attractiveness of the location, further location measures must be introduced or existing ones promoted. "The planned implementation in Switzerland gives the cantons leeway for any location measures with the additional tax revenues," explains Stefan Kuhn, head of tax and legal consulting at KPMG. This is because, according to the federal government's proposal, 75 percent of the income from the supplementary tax is to remain with the cantons, giving them the opportunity to secure and promote location attractiveness for their part. These are supplemented by non-tax factors such as the availability of a skilled workforce, employer-friendly labor laws and competitive income taxes. "When designing new location promotion measures, care must be taken on the one hand to ensure that they have little or no negative impact on minimum taxation. On the other hand, they must be accepted by the OECD and the EU," Olivier Eichenberger, corporate tax expert at KPMG, points out.

If one follows the developments abroad as a consequence of the introduction of the OECD minimum taxation, one notices the trend of a shift from tax competition to subsidy competition. The EU and the USA, for example, have introduced government subsidies aimed at promoting sustainability. The EU's "Green Deal" aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by the end of 2030. The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act seeks to incentivize greenhouse gas reductions and encourage investment in domestic manufacturing and support for the development and commercialization of new technologies. "In concrete terms, this means for Switzerland that the race for subsidies is already on and the introduction of similar support measures should be discussed now at the latest," says André Güdel, Head of Business Development Tax at KPMG, assessing the situation for Switzerland.

Do you know this situation: You are stuck in a traffic jam and arrive late at work, all your suggestions are shot down at the management meeting, and then you find out that there is no salary increase again. You are frustrated and want to apply for a job somewhere else. You seem to be in good company. The trend of so-called "rage applying", which could be translated as "angry application" or "frustrated application", seems to have reached a peak after the time of the annual employee appraisal interviews. This trend manifests itself in employees sending their CV to a great many companies because they just had a bad day at work. Of those who have already done so this year, nearly half (48 %) even say they have applied to multiple ads in a short period of time. These are the findings of a new survey of nearly a thousand professionals in Switzerland conducted by HR consultancy Robert Walters.

Responsible for "rage applying": the working environment

The main reason cited for sending resumes en masse is the work environment and corporate culture, which some employees find "toxic" (56 %). After that, 40 % say they were encouraged to "rage apply" by a lack of a pay raise or promotion. Commenting on the findings, Christian Atkinson, Director of Robert Walters Switzerland, said: "Switzerland continues to be an applicant-driven market, which puts companies in a sometimes difficult position; therefore, they cannot afford to allow 'rage applying'. While the toxicity of an environment can sometimes go unnoticed, its impact on the mood of teams is very large. This leads to disruptions in well-being, productivity or innovation. To counteract this, 'culture match' stages are becoming increasingly common in our clients' hiring processes. They make it possible to assess the match between the company's expectations and the applicant's, and to see if the team and the workplace will be a good fit." It's not surprising that professionals would also place value on salary and career, Atkinson added. "The good news is that these items are much easier for employers to manage. That's why we recommend that companies look at salaries and benefits in the current marketplace. Having objective conversations with their employees about their ambitions and expectations is also critical."

Focus on corporate culture

Robert Walters' teams would increasingly observe that company culture and colleagues have become important criteria in the job search. These factors are on par with job flexibility or benefits. Christian Atkinson offers the following three tips that companies should consider when improving a company culture:

1. Put corporate culture at the center of top management's attention. Every manager in the company is responsible for the mood and atmosphere in his or her team. The topic should therefore be regularly reminded by management and managers should be challenged regarding their actions and decisions.
2. Launch an anonymous survey. This is a simple initiative, but few companies have implemented it. Don't hesitate to ask open-ended questions that allow you to understand exactly what employees have in mind. Take note of all comments to understand specifically what is going wrong.
3. Invest, both time and money. Corporate culture doesn't unfold on its own. The office is a place where teams come together to develop their skills. The company must then do everything it can to create the best chemistry through a friendly, social and inclusive environment. This is something to think about carefully.

Source: Robert Walters