The unemployment rate will unfortunately continue to rise

Government Councillor Silvia Thalmann (CVP) was and is challenged during Corona. She found the conversations with the affected business people to be very emotional in some cases.

Silvia Thalmann, are you glad that you were a government councillor during the Corona period – and not working in business, as before?
No, because I have a very great responsibility as a government councillor. Making good and balanced decisions with my colleagues in the Zug Government Council (Regierungsrat) – and this under time pressure – is very challenging in view of the unpredictability of the economic situation. In addition, the volume of work also went up steeply in the spring.

What did this mean for you?
I felt challenged because, among other things, our department had working quickly and nevertheless thoroughly in order to deal with the many requests and applications for short-time work. I was very often in the office with my team into the evenings and also on Saturdays – or I worked from home. From early morning to late evening. The conversations with the affected businessmen and women from Zug were in some cases very emotional.

Were there also cases of Corona at the Department of Economics?
No, I am not aware of any cases.

What was the atmosphere in the administration like during the worst phase of the pandemic?
We worked together very well. Some offices had much less work due of the situation, others much more. If we needed additional help, we could easily approach colleagues from other areas.

What went through your mind when you were in contact with the business world?
Freedom in the economic sphere means ensuring one’s financial independence. Be it as a private individual, as a company or as a state. Those who cannot fall back on reserves in times of crisis will not sleep well. I sometimes see a tendency to very quickly spend the money that has been earned.

The lockdown was a few months ago. What is the current situation on the Zug labour market?
We are astonished to see that the labour market is currently robust and stable – because we were expecting much worse figures. The current unemployment rate has, of course, increased from 1.9% to 2.7%, compared to August last year. On average, this figure is usually about 0.5 percentage points below the national average in the canton of Zug. At the moment, many companies are having to assess how long the situation will still go on, and this is difficult to predict. The companies are re-structuring and freeing up the means to survive the crisis – and this can lead to redundancies.

She has a rather colourful office compared to the rest of the administration building:
Economics Director Silvia Thalmann.

Many companies have relied on short-time working. How many companies are currently registered?
We reached the highest level in the canton of Zug in June, with more than 6,000 registrations. Now there are about 1,200. Companies have three months to submit their lost hours. In other words, we’ll only know how many companies actually needed how much money for the current month in three months’ time.

In August, the canton counted almost 3,000 job seekers Did you need to increase the capacity of the RAV (Regional employment agency)?
Yes, the team currently employs around 30 people – but the size varies. Some retired employees could be re-hired In the short term, and further recruitment is currently underway. As a rule, a consultant handles around 120 dossiers.

Which industries are suffering most from Corona?
Many individual companies are affected, especially in the event industry. And also performing artists and the music industry. Industries that are involved in travel are also doing badly: car companies, travel agencies, but also the catering industry. Restaurants and hotels specialising in business trips and business lunches have suffered in particular.

Was there anything unexpected?
I was astonished to see that the cleaning industry is also affected. There may be a connection here with home office working.

Are all the workers equally affected?
It is more difficult for the less qualified workers or for executive employees, such as expats; in the case of the latter, this is especially the case for the over-45s. We were also surprised that younger people have not registered heavily in the statistics so far.

Why?
We assume that, for example, graduate students started studying directly after graduation this year, instead of taking time off to travel around first. This is supported by the fact that the University of Lucerne, for example, registered more new students compared to the previous year.

How will the Zug economy fare in the near future?
Predictions and prognoses are extremely difficult. The German economist Hans-Werner Sinn made an apt comparison to this when he described the current development as an inverted root sign. The economy has recovered somewhat, but has not yet reached the level it had before Corona. We will unfortunately see higher unemployment figures.