Author: switzerlandtimes.ch

Switzerland’s purchase of F-35 fighter jets is expected to generate more business for Swiss companies than originally required, reported RTS. Under the procurement deal, the American manufacturer has agreed to place work with Swiss firms as partial compensation for the purchase. According to figures released by Armasuisse on Tuesday, these commitments now exceed the target set by the federal government. The announcement is intended to demonstrate that the F-35 programme will benefit not only the Swiss Air Force but also domestic industry. Under the procurement agreement, offset business equivalent to 60% of the contract value—around $3bn—must be awarded to Swiss…

The heatwave that swept across Switzerland in late June appears to have caused a modest increase in deaths among older people. Mortality among those aged 65 and over exceeded official projections during the week of June 22nd-28th, though it remained well below the levels recorded during the country’s record-breaking heatwave in 2003. According to weekly figures from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), 1,278 people aged 65 or over died during the week. That was 175 more than the 1,104 deaths expected based on historical trends. The last heatwave of comparable intensity occurred in the summer of 2015, Switzerland’s second-hottest summer…

Real wage growth has slowed sharply for most Swiss workers over the past decade, leaving real disposable incomes stagnant or falling for nearly all households. According to a Swiss Trade Union Federation’s (SGB) 2026 report, only single people in the top 10% of the income distribution and families in the top 1% recorded an increase in real disposable monthly income between 2016 and 2025. The report finds that employees in the lower and middle parts of the wage distribution have seen little improvement in purchasing power over the past decade. Median real wages rose by only around 2% between 2014…

Switzerland does not need new nuclear power stations to complete the energy transition, according to a report by 19 energy specialists from ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), the country’s leading nuclear-research centre. They conclude that a system based on hydropower and solar energy, supplemented by wind power and electricity storage, can provide a secure supply without building new reactors. The researchers do not dismiss nuclear power altogether. They argue that new reactors could reduce Switzerland’s dependence on imported electricity during the winter and therefore remain a legitimate option. But they conclude that the economic and political hurdles…

A pioneering Swiss project to install removeable solar panels between railway tracks has completed its first year of operation with encouraging results, suggesting the technology can generate electricity without disrupting train services, reported the Greater Geneva Bern area (GGBa) investment promotion agency. More than 11,000 trains have passed over a 100-metre test installation in Buttes, in the canton of Neuchâtel, since it was commissioned a year ago. The installation has proved completely stable and safe, according to Sun Ways. The photovoltaic panels are mounted on railway sleepers between the rails and can be removed quickly when maintenance work is required.…

Minimum wages are one of the most contentious issues in Swiss labour policy, exposing tensions between Switzerland’s federal government and the cantons over who should determine pay. Trade unions and left-wing parties have now launched a federal referendum against legislation that would give sectoral collective labour agreements1 precedence over cantonal minimum-wage laws. The reform, approved by parliament during its summer session, is an attack on low-paid workers, women and Swiss federalism, campaigners argue. The canton of Neuchâtel has also called for a referendum. The legislation would allow minimum wage rates negotiated in collective labour agreements to override statutory minimum wages…

Congestion on Switzerland’s motorways worsened sharply in 2025, with traffic jams reaching almost 68,000 hours, around a fifth more than a year earlier, according to figures published by the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO). The country’s busiest motorways—the A1, A2 and A3—accounted for much of the increase. Congestion on the A2 between Basel and Chiasso rose by 31% to 15,740 hours. Around Lake Geneva, traffic jams increased by a more modest 9.2%, although several routes around Geneva experienced much steeper rises. The urban motorway linking Geneva Airport to Perly was among the worst affected, while sections of the A9 towards the…

On June 30, a broad coalition of the Greens, the Socialists, the Green Liberals and several campaign groups launched a referendum against government legislation that would allow the construction of new nuclear power plants in Switzerland. The alliance argues that new reactors would deepen the country’s dependence on nuclear technology, cost billions of francs and slow the expansion of renewable energy. During its summer session Parliament approved the Federal Council’s indirect counter-proposal to the popular initiative Stop the Blackout (“Electricity for everyone at all times”). The legislation would lift the ban on building new nuclear power stations, reversing the prohibition…

Swiss voters will decide four federal measures on November 29, including a proposal to help finance the new 13th monthly payment under the state pension system. The ballot will also cover a revision of the law governing war materiel exports, the Centre Party’s proposal to restore joint taxation for married couples and an initiative to ban most fireworks. The two popular initiatives—one to ban most fireworks and the other to restore joint taxation for married couples—reached the ballot after neither was withdrawn within the statutory period following Parliament’s recommendations during the summer session. The proposal to raise VAT to help…

A signature is a strange thing. It takes a second, commits months, and rests almost entirely on an assumption: that the company named on the contract is real, solvent, and run by the people who claim to run it. Most of the time, that assumption holds. The trouble is that it holds right up until it doesn’t — and by the time a contract turns sour, the cost of having checked nothing has usually already been paid. Running a UK company check before signing is not about suspicion. It is about confirming, in a few minutes, the things a contract…