{"id":29696,"date":"2026-07-17T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/?p=29696"},"modified":"2026-07-06T09:47:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T07:47:17","slug":"stay-curious-r-lipp-on-the-swiss-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/stay-curious-r-lipp-on-the-swiss-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Stay Curious&#8221;: Reto Lipp on the Swiss Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ccfic\"><span class=\"ccfic-text\">\"Two additional years of work would significantly ease the burden on the social security system,\" says Reto Lipp.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Reto Lipp, one of Switzerland\u2019s best-known business journalists, spoke with Jakob Barandun in a Capricorn interview about the challenges facing older workers in the Swiss job market, startup culture, the strengths and weaknesses of Switzerland as a business location, and the end of Credit Suisse as a personal turning point.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although policymakers are calling for it and the business community nods in agreement, little is actually happening in practice. Reto Lipp sums it up: As long as companies force employees into early retirement at age 58 while publicly advocating for the integration of workers aged 50 and older, the issue remains nothing more than an empty phrase. He recalls a telling example: In an interview, the CEO of a major insurance company called for everyone to work until age 70, even though the average retirement age at his own company at the time was 61.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Reto Lipp: Mit 50 aussortiert, mit 70 weiterarbeiten? Die unbequeme Wahrheit \u00fcber den Arbeitsmarkt\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NCOybVu8x0c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What Lipp is calling for instead: genuine flexibility between the ages of 60 and 70, without bureaucratic hurdles. And a rethinking of the pay structure. Anyone who takes a new job at age 60 may have to accept a pay cut under certain circumstances. This is not a defeat, but a viable model for longer working lives. Added to this is the structural problem of digitalization: algorithms now decide who is invited to a job interview. Older candidates\u2019 profiles are often not even reviewed in the first place.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Demographics as a Time Bomb<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The demographic reality is overwhelming. Switzerland\u2019s baby boom year was 1964, which means that starting in 2029, a wave of retirements unlike any other will begin. The AHV is under pressure, the 13th pension has not yet been funded, and the pension funds have their own structural concerns. Lipp is convinced that two additional years of work would significantly ease the burden on the social security system, but the political battle over this is far from won.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Swiss Startups: Ideas Abound, but Capital Is Lacking<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When it comes to entrepreneurship, Lipp takes a nuanced view. Switzerland, particularly the triangle formed by ETH Zurich, Schlieren, and EPFL Lausanne, produces top-tier startups. The problem lies not in the founding phase, but in scaling up. Those who want to grow go to the United States, where better capital markets and a greater willingness to take risks on the part of investors await them. Even success stories like On Running went public in New York rather than in Zurich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Added to this is a culture of blame that Lippi describes as a structural obstacle. In Switzerland, anyone who fails is considered a failure with no second chance. In the U.S., failure is seen as a step in the learning process. As long as this mindset persists, a genuine willingness to take risks and entrepreneurial dynamism will remain limited.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Diverse Economic Hub Under Pressure<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Switzerland has been fortunate, unlike Germany with its disastrous dependence on the automotive industry, to have never been reliant on a single sector. Watchmaking, mechanical engineering, banking, insurance, tourism, and pharmaceuticals: historically speaking, this diversification has been its greatest economic bulwark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But costs are taking a toll on the location. Lipp quotes an industry executive who, despite a clear commitment to Switzerland, is no longer setting up new production facilities here. Energy costs, wages, and rents are too high, he says. And the pharmaceutical industry, long the quiet backbone of Swiss growth, is entering rougher waters due to American pressure on drug prices and the relocation of production. The strong franc is making matters worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The End of Credit Suisse: A Turning Point<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What moved Lipp the most personally was the collapse of Credit Suisse, exactly three years ago. For him, it wasn\u2019t a single event, but the culmination of years of missteps &#8211; one scandal after another &#8211; until one too many occurred. What fascinated him about it: It was the first digital bank run in history. No lines at teller windows, just a click of the mouse. The first to withdraw their funds en masse in October 2022, half a year before the final collapse, were Asian customers. Lipp recalls being on the SRF-Arena show on Friday evening, when everyone was saying everything would be fine, and by Sunday, the bank was history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a trauma for the Swiss financial system,\u201d he says. Today, Switzerland has only one major bank left. And he raises the question of whether UBS could even be bailed out in a worst-case scenario.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>&#8220;Stay curious&#8221;: a motto that holds true<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When asked about his life motto, Lipp answers without hesitation: \u201cStay curious.\u201d He says that anyone who stops taking an interest in the big picture grows old in spirit. Local politics is part of that, too: it\u2019s often dismissed, but that\u2019s exactly where you can still make a difference, schools, 30 km\/h speed limits, neighborhood planning. Getting involved starts small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Binci Heeb<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">See and read also: AI as a Human Enhancer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reto Lipp, one of Switzerland\u2019s best-known business journalists, spoke with Jakob Barandun in a Capricorn interview about the challenges facing older workers in the Swiss job market, startup culture, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5100,5134,5101],"tags":[13554,9389,5513,13555,13552,13553,13551,7589,5288],"class_list":["post-29696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current","category-general","category-video-en","tag-business-locations","tag-capital","tag-print","tag-relocation-of-production","tag-reto-lipp","tag-startup-culture","tag-stay-calm","tag-swiss-economy","tag-switzerland-en","ownarticle"],"acf":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"\"Two additional years of work would significantly ease the burden on the social security system,\" says Reto Lipp.","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29696"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29699,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29696\/revisions\/29699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrokernews.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}