No. 157, December

In a study conducted for Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), KOF has examined the use of the Job-Room.ch online job platform within the context of the introduction of mandatory job notification. It shows that people without IT skills, with little knowledge of the local language or with low levels of education are at a disadvantage.

KOF Director Jan-Egbert Sturm talks in an interview about the future of international trade, the lessons to be learned from the coronavirus crisis, and Switzerland’s competitiveness.

Swiss companies’ business situation in November remained virtually stable compared with the previous month (see chart G 10). The Business Situation Indicator is thus sustaining its high level. Companies remain confident about developments going forward. The economic recovery is currently robust.

A recent study by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute and the Bern University of Applied Sciences on the circular economy shows that Switzerland is only at the beginning of a transformation process. Basically, the study estimates Switzerland's potential to efficiently implement circular measures and thus generate competitive advantages as high.

Government support measures have meant that far fewer companies have had to file for bankruptcy since the start of the coronavirus crisis than in normal times. Recently, however, corporate bankruptcies have risen sharply, returning to pre-crisis levels. This trend is broadly based both sectorally and regionally.