Switzerland extended on Wednesday the duration of compensation for partial unemployment to try to limit layoffs against the shock of US customs tasks, which in particular affects watchmaking and industrial SMEs. In August, the White House imposed customs tasks of 39% in Swiss products, which arouses strong concerns for employment in these sectors that depend a lot on their exports.
In a statement, the Federal Council (Government) announced to extend the maximum duration of partial unemployment compensation at 24 months, against 18 months before, to provide “directed support” to companies. This six -month extension should allow them to “adapt to an even difficult economic situation” in the face of “uncertainty linked to customs tasks” and “to avoid layoffs,” says the government.
“The machinery industry, electrical equipment and metals, as well as the watchmaking industry are among the most affected,” added the press release, while specifying that “labor market forecasts do not suggest improvements.”
65% of watch suppliers have used temporary work reductions
The extension will enter into force in early November. In mid -2014, 12 to 18 months had already been extended, in particular to deal with difficulties related to the increase in energy prices. In August, the Swissmem shareholders’ organization, which represents industrial companies, launched a petition that called, among other things, to extend partial unemployment to support small and medium enterprises (SME), which cannot necessarily cannot relocate their production in the United States.
According to the statements of the Ministry of Economy, the unemployment rate in Switzerland was limited to 2.8% in August and September, but statistics for partial unemployment during these two months are not yet known. In a study on the watchmaking published on Wednesday, the Audit and Advice firm of Deloitte points out that 65% of the watches suppliers, generally affected the first in case of deceleration, already indicated in July that they had used a temporary reduction in the work schedule.
Source: BFM TV
