In addition to more than 30 renowned universities from Switzerland and nearby countries, this year's Master's Fair will also see the host country Australia present its education and training opportunities at Master's level.

Various experts

Visitors can expect an exciting program with exhibition booths, lectures and panel discussions about the various Master's level offerings (MA, MSc, CAS, DAS, MAS, MBA, EMBA). In addition, visitors to the Master's fair can obtain free advice from study and career experts in personal discussions.

The Master Fair will take place from Wednesday, November 23 to Thursday, November 24, 2016 at StageOne in Zurich-Oerlikon. Admission is free if you register online by November 16, 2016 at the latest.

http://www.master-messe.ch

In future, every institute or laboratory that carries out animal experiments must appoint an animal welfare officer. Their task is to check compliance with animal welfare regulations and the 3R requirements when animal experiments are planned and applications for approval are drafted. This requires proven expertise and the authority to issue instructions. 3R stands for Replace (replace animal experiments), Reduce (reduce animal numbers) and Refine (create better conditions for animals in animal experiments). By applying the 3R principles, the aim is to keep animal testing to an absolute minimum and to cause as little stress as possible to the animals.

Against anonymous online dog trade

Illegal dog imports are a growing problem, especially when trading on the Internet. Persons who offer animals online must now state their full contact details in the advertisements. The electronic identification by means of microchip as well as the complete registration in the dog database should enable a complete traceability of the dogs. However, to ensure efficient enforcement of dog control, it is important to have correct and complete data. For this purpose, the roles of dog owners, veterinarians and authorities are specified.

Animal-friendly killing has led to discussions in the past. The federal government wants to make the requirements regarding expertise stricter. In the amended parts of the ordinance, it is also explicitly required that someone who kills an animal must make sure that it is dead. The aim is to prevent animals that are presumed dead from dying in agony.

The live transport of fish on ice or in ice water was already prohibited. In the future, the ban, which is especially relevant for the catering industry, will also apply to armored crabs. Lobsters, lobsters and crabs may also no longer be kept out of water. Their killing now requires prior stunning as well as expertise.

More protection for animals at events

Animal events and exhibitions are also affected by the changes to the ordinance. If the organizer has custody of the animals, a person responsible for animal care with a certificate of competence is now required. Events that do not require a permit must be reported to the competent cantonal authority if they are of supraregional significance.

Source: BLV

While around 60 percent of applications were approved prior to the SchKG revision, this figure has risen to around 70 percent since 2014, underlines the current KPMG study "Development of debt restructuring under the new restructuring law".

The new provisions on reorganization law (SchKG), which came into force on January 1, 2014, brought some innovations to the probate proceedings. With these new provisions, the legislator aimed to provide additional structuring options and improved framework conditions for corporate restructuring. Improvements were achieved in various areas:

Simplification of the formal rules for the initiation of proceedings

• So-called continuing obligations such as rental or leasing agreements can now be terminated immediately.
• Possibility to waive publication in case of simultaneous appointment of a custodian for a maximum of four months (for exceptional cases)
• More attractive conditions for the separation and sale of profitable parts of the business

Now that the new restructuring law has been in force for over two years, we have taken this as an opportunity to conduct the first survey-based analysis of the development of debt restructuring in Switzerland. The results are based on around 70 responses from competent courts in Switzerland.

Practical experience and assessments

Based on a survey-based analysis by KPMG, the annual number of debt-restructuring moratoria throughout Switzerland since 2010 is estimated to be in the range of 70 to 80 per year. This means that the absolute number of debt restructuring proceedings has remained very low compared to the approximately 14,500 bankruptcy proceedings in 2015 alone.

Since the SchKG revision came into force, there has been a slight increase. This may be due on the one hand to the fact that the initiation of proceedings has been simplified, or on the other hand to the fact that restructuring practitioners have once again become increasingly involved with the instrument of debt-restructuring moratorium.

Number of applications increases

Experience shows that most corporate restructurings to date have been carried out under the Swiss Code of Obligations. Due to the new legislation and with increasing experience by restructuring practitioners, KPMG AG expects that the number of debt restructurings is likely to increase further, but will remain at a relatively low level overall.

Facilitated formal requirements

While around 60 percent of applications were approved prior to the SchKG revision, this figure has risen to around 70 percent since 2014. The simplified formal requirements are therefore likely to have been effective.

Based on initial practical experience, the simplified formal requirements are judged to be very helpful and purposeful. Most of the documents required for the initiation of proceedings are already available in a professionally managed turnaround program anyway - only a few documents need to be created specifically for the initiation of proceedings.

Waiver of Notice - only in exceptional cases?

The use of the new option to waive publication of the procedure was surprisingly high. This was created by the legislator in principle for exceptional cases. Thus, around a quarter of the applications in 2014 and 2015 included a request for waiver of publication, which was approved in around 85 percent of cases.

The waiver of notice was judged in advance by many practitioners to be a promising instrument. After all, according to our survey, it was applied in more than 20 percent of the proceedings. However, the waiver of publication is not always a panacea. In our view, its application must be analyzed carefully and comprehensively, for example with regard to:

• the consequences for the operating business and the upcoming restructuring negotiations, or
• on the likelihood of whether remediation is realistic within the relatively short duration of 4 months to date.

Debt-restructuring moratorium: Quo vadis?

Two years after the amendment to the law came into force, it is not yet possible to assess conclusively whether it has achieved its objectives. Based on the results of this analysis, the instrument of debt-restructuring moratorium seems to have gained little in attractiveness. At least, access to debt-restructuring moratorium has obviously been made easier.

No significant increase in the number of proceedings is expected in the short term. In the long term, however, as users gain experience - and possibly after the legislature makes further fine-tuning adjustments - the procedure has the potential to develop into a tried-and-tested and more popular instrument for corporate restructuring.

Text: Alessandro Farsaci (KPMG Advisory)

You can find the complete study "Development of the debt restructuring under the new reorganization law" under this Link

http://www.kpmg.ch

The trained toolmaker, mechanical engineer and quality manager, who has many years of experience in the industry, including in stamping technology and plastic injection molding, has always held management positions at well-known Swiss supplier companies in recent years. A special focus has long been on the areas of quality management and quality assurance. At etampa, he is also responsible for environmental management, occupational safety and health protection.

Lorenz will report directly to CEO and Chairman of the Board Hans Rudolf Haefeli. Haefeli is delighted with the new addition: "In Josef Lorenz, we have found someone who has made quality and safety issues his very personal credo."

http://www.etampa.ch

According to the study, which was conducted among 6,045 office workers in nine European countries, technical equipment is one of the biggest time wasters in the office. According to the study, German office workers lose around 10,000 minutes or 20 working days a year because the technical equipment in the office holds them up instead of speeding up their work.

For example, office workers spend an average of 22 minutes per day searching their company's network for hard-to-find documents and images. 8 minutes are spent waiting for printers to boot up and warm up. Printing documents takes another 9 minutes.

In total, office workers in Germany have to let around 38 minutes of their working day go by unused!

Uncertainty in operation

This waste of time has various causes. For German employees, cluttered document storage is the most serious problem: 31 percent of respondents say they lose time because documents are not easy to find or share. 25 percent complain about outdated technologies that make it difficult for them to work efficiently.

A lot of time is also spent with colleagues trying to help each other. For example, 25 percent of respondents say they occasionally help their colleagues operate printers and scanners. 23 percent coach their colleagues on how to use video conferencing technology. As many as 21 percent of office workers admit that they themselves do not know how the devices work.

Side effect: Demotivation  

Delays caused by technical issues not only affect employees' efficiency - they also have a significant impact on their job satisfaction. For example, 52 percent of respondents say they would be more productive with more up-to-date technology. 42 percent are certain that their motivation would increase, and 16 percent even suspect that they would feel more connected to their employer and stop looking for a new job.

"By using outdated, faulty and complicated technology, companies risk slowing down work processes, losing profits and even losing valuable employees," comments Alexander Hermann Vice President Information Systems Europe at Sharp. "It's time for them to recognize the importance of up-to-date, smart technology that fits the ever-evolving needs of their workforce. Having the right technology not only increases team efficiency. It also increases the enjoyment of work and the attractiveness of the employer."

For more information on the pan-European results, see this Link

Digital must be a matter for the boss, but employees must be involved. Employee training is a key internal success factor, says Patrick Warnking, Country Director Google Switzerland.

Feedback and error culture are very important at Google. The founders face the questions and feedback of their employees every week. For Patrick Warnking, Country Director Google Switzerland, the digital transformation is not about technology. He believes that people should be the focus: Employees, customers, partners for innovation in the ecosystem.

Digitization - only a matter for the boss?

Dr. Nadine Stutz, Lead Digital Communications at Raiffeisen Switzerland, has a similar view: "Digitization is a matter for the boss - you have to become a change manager yourself in order to actively accompany the switch from paper to digital. If you succeed, the benefits are immense. Knowledge is shared instead of stashed away. Learning organizations are created. However, obstacles on the way there can be ignorance or half-knowledge; clear structures and processes are needed, and expectations must be clarified.

Seri Wada, founder of Seri Backhandwerk, is anathema to traditional marketing. He acts according to the motto: "Done is better than perfect", which means as much as: It's better to get a product to market quickly than to spend years quietly perfecting it. His goal is to make the best baguette possible. To do this, he cleverly uses feedback he receives via social media channels - he also occasionally Googles people who like him on Facebook and surprises them with a fresh baguette on the spot.

Error culture crucial

For René Maeder, Managing Director of XING Switzerland, a culture of mistakes is crucial. Self-employed people know this, but employees should also be allowed to try out their own things and make mistakes. However, many employees are afraid of this. Managers should actively encourage them to do so and set an example themselves.

The event was moderated competently and charmingly by Vera Class, Managing Director Heartwork GmbH.

The next Xpert Circle for executives from SMEs will already take place on December 15, 2016 at Sihlpost on the topic of "Corporate Governance". More about the event at:

www.kvz-weiterbildung.ch

Yeng Chow, Senior Manager at Robert Half in Zurich, explains the digital trend: "More and more companies are using so-called Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). Larger companies in particular use these software solutions to keep the number of manually processed application documents low and to shorten the hiring process.

ATSs use algorithms to scan applications for specific content or keywords and weed them out if there are discrepancies or no matches. However, with a few measures, candidates can optimize their resumes for the digital recruiter and improve their chances of making it to the next round. However: software can only recognize individuality to a limited extent: Personal contacts are therefore still important - especially personnel service providers with a good connection to recruiters can open paths to coveted positions."

"Beat the Robot" - three tips

1. choose a simple formatting for your online application

Resume scanners are not fans of creative layouts at all. Instead of giving the applicant credit for individuality, they have trouble reading the resume correctly. Instead of classifying the online application as creative, at worst it is immediately sorted out.

• Refrain from using extravagant elements such as logos or symbols in your resume.
• Do not choose fancy fonts in the online application. Use standard fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman.
• Use common headings for each section of the resume, such as education, work experience, or qualifications.
• Use commonly used terms. Unfamiliar terms make it difficult for the machines to correctly classify the data in the resume.
• Check exactly which file formats the ATS accepts and can read correctly. Adapt your online application accordingly.

2. use relevant keywords for the online application.

By using certain terms, you can convince the computer that you are one of the promising candidates. This does not include application phrases such as "resilient", "motivated" or "team player". Rather, they mean special key terms that are typical for the industry and profession!

• Use keywords from the job ad in the online application resume - only if you actually have them, of course.
• Do not try to use keywords as often as possible in your online application. After all, you also want to convince the recruiter afterwards. Incoherent formulations that merely contain as many keywords as possible are also usually sorted out.

3. avoid spelling mistakes

This rule applies to every application, of course. However, while a recruiter will forgive a single misspelling, in the worst case the machine cannot read the word. If it's one of the important key words, it's kind of like not having that skill at all. And that can cost you job opportunities.

• Take spell check seriously!
• Let the automatic spell checker of your word processor help you. It identifies most errors.

A tip on the side: In addition, give the application to a friend or acquaintance for proofreading.

www.roberthalf.ch

Until now, large commercial data centers with corresponding security standards were reserved for corporations with several dozen square meters of floor space. But Green sees potential especially among startups and companies with smaller IT infrastructures. "The investment in server rooms that meet today's standards is high. That's why the trend toward outsourcing to commercial data centers is continuing," says Green CEO Frank Boller.

"Thanks to our new standardized and already preconfigured colocation zones, we can offer companies server housing at particularly attractive prices. And this at very short notice with a provisioning time of a maximum of 24 hours for rack units," he adds.

The new colocation offer can be ordered online and is in no way inferior to the space for large customers. The Green data centers Zurich-West in Lupfig and Zurich-North in Glattbrugg can currently be selected as locations. They comply with Tier IV and Tier III standards respectively. The new Green Datacenter on the outskirts of Zurich, which Green took over from Zurich Insurance in May 2016, will soon be added to this.

Secure services

The three colocation data centers are connected by a high-performance fiber optic ring. This allows various redundancy concepts to be implemented. Customers who do not wish to carry out certain work on their hardware themselves can now also order remote hands services from Green. Predefined work is then carried out on site by Green.

Green Colocation is a complete package: it includes power supply to the rack, secure access to your own hardware, and a Green Internet connection. A further 40 network operators are available as carriers. The rack units ordered online are ready for use within 24 hours. Green Colo Basic, the new entry-level package, is available from just CHF 280 per month.

More information about the offer and prices can be found at this Link

Checklist

Regardless of their geographic location, companies and individuals can take various measures to prevent infection and financial loss:

1. be vigilant when reading email messages that contain links or attachments.

Most of the campaigns described here relied on social engineering to trick users into infecting themselves with malware, even though their systems were likely to have displayed security warnings while or before they opened the malicious files.

2. never activate macros in documents received by e-mail.

Never run executables linked to an email message unless you are absolutely sure that the message is authentic. Perform regular, frequent backups that can be restored instead of paying a ransom to unlock encrypted data.

3. companies should also invest in appropriate security technologies to protect their employees.

SMEs are particularly at risk because their bank details are often provided in private email accounts and therefore represent a higher priority target for attackers. SMEs also have more to lose in a ransomware attack. However, larger numbers of employees increase the chances of a successful infection.

Ransomware has now grown into an illegal but multi-million dollar industry. Recently, Central Europe has become a target for one of the strongest ransomware variants as well as an unusual one. Earlier this year, for example, several hospitals in Germany were forced to postpone operations and shut down a variety of connected devices when they were hit by ransomware.

As with banking Trojans, losses far exceed the direct cost of paying a ransom or cleaning up computer viruses. A current overview.

Petya ransomware

Although not as well known as its famous ransomware cousins - be it Locky, Cerber, CryptXXX or Cryptowall - the Petya ransomware family has been attracting attention lately, targeting Central and Eastern Europe. In Germany, strangely enough, the Petya ransomware has only been observed in half-hearted copycat attacks.

Petya ransomware does not encrypt files individually like many other ransomware variants. Instead, it uses a special boot loader and a very small kernel (operating system) to inject and encrypt the master file table on the hard drive. Petya's write routine actually overwrites the master boot record with its own kernel.

Infected systems are then rebooted and users get to see screen pages like the one shown in the screenshot.

Ransomware Locky

Locky has been circulating since February 2016 mostly as fake, high-volume email campaigns. In them, the Locky ransomware is ported, associated with Dridex threat actors. In the third quarter of 2016, distributed email messages accounted for more than 95% of Proofpoint's monitored global malicious email volumes.

For example, such ransomware sent the following neutral e-mail: Service@kids-party-world.de with the subject "Your order is on its way to you! - "OrderID 654321" and the attachment "invoice_12345.zip" (both with random digits) were included in the email.

Likewise, a "John.doe123@[random domain]"(random name, 1-3 digits) with the subject "Emailing: _12345_123456" (random numbers) and matching attachment "_12345_123456.zip" keeps popping up! - The contaminated attachments were .zip archives with JavaScript (in WSF or HTA files), which, when executed, download the Locky ransomware.

Summary

Although Europe is currently struggling with ongoing financial pressures, the relative prosperity and good business climate of German-speaking regions explain recent increases in malware volume and diversity, particularly in Germany and Switzerland. proofpoint.com observed email attacks here with the distribution of German messages and decoy documents on several families of ransomware and banking Trojans, including variants such as Petya (as well as personalized campaigns for banking Trojans such as Ursnif and Dridex) that are rare elsewhere.

www.proofpoint.com

Around 21 million Germans, or 30 percent of all people over the age of 15, now work independently. In other words, they are self-employed, employed on a temporary basis or supplement their incomes through independent activities in addition to school, university, their first job or their pension. These are the findings of the "Independent Work" study published by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) in Washington on Monday.

Away from traditional permanent employment

More than one in two young people up to the age of 24 or retirees over the age of 65 is self-employed or employed on a temporary basis, either full-time or part-time. "70 percent of survey participants who are employed outside of traditional permanent employment relationships do so because they value the independence and flexibility it brings," Mischke explains.

However, the remaining 30 percent - around two million full-time and four million part-time employees - are unable to find a suitable permanent position.

Positive impact on economic performance

In view of these figures, the MGI sees the need for policymakers to obtain an even better overview of the actual employment relationships and sources of income of the population. Employees would have to be better protected in individual cases and legal certainty would have to be created for all parties involved. Overall, the MGI sees many opportunities in the trend toward more self-employed or independent work: flexibility and higher labor force participation can have a positive impact on the country's economic performance.

About the study: The research institute of the management consultancy conducted a representative survey of 1,200 people over the age of 15 in Germany on all forms of income generation. In parallel, representative surveys were conducted in France, Sweden, the UK, Spain and the USA. Official statistics usually only record the number of people registered as self-employed or those employed on a temporary basis. According to Eurostat, that is around nine million people in Germany.

http://www.mckinsey.com/

556 insolvent companies in the canton of Zurich, an increase of three percent: this means that bankruptcies in Zurich have developed in the same way as in Switzerland as a whole. In total, bankruptcy proceedings were opened against 3,390 companies due to insolvency. The number of company bankruptcies rose particularly sharply in Italian- and French-speaking Switzerland and in eastern Switzerland.

By contrast, bankruptcies in central Switzerland and the Espace Mittelland region declined significantly. New entries in the commercial register amounted to 30,576 companies. This represents an increase of two percent compared to the same period last year. Of the major regions, only Ticino recorded a decline.

More details on the Bisnode survey can be found at this Link

With the new incentive system, Suva has the option of covering reintegration costs of up to CHF 20,000.

The current economic situation and advancing digitalization are making it increasingly difficult to return injured workers to the labor market - especially if they are not trained at all or are poorly trained. To support companies that provide suitable jobs for these people, Suva is now launching the "Incentives for company reintegration" program.

The focus is on people who, after an accident, can no longer pursue their original occupation or can only do so again with great commitment from their employer. Another criterion is that there is no entitlement to an occupational measure from the disability insurance (IV) - either because the people concerned have no entitlement to retraining without training or because the IV does not become active for some other reason. However, the program is implemented in close cooperation between Suva and IV.

20,000 francs contingency fee

In the future, significantly more insured persons and companies will benefit from the optimized incentive system. To this end, Suva is expanding its services. In the future, the offer will also be available to companies that reintegrate their own injured employees. Until now, the incentive system applied to companies that created a job for an injured employee. Because: "We prefer to give our insured a perspective instead of a pension," says Peter Diermann, Head of Insurance Benefits at Suva.

With the new incentive system, Suva has the option of covering reintegration costs of up to CHF 20,000. "This includes, for example, workplace adjustments, costs for familiarization with a new job or training courses with a view to reassignment or new employment," says Diermann. In addition, a success fee of 20,000 francs can be paid out if the measure is successfully completed, he adds. These costs do not result in a premium burden for the companies. Suva's goal is to achieve financial savings through these measures.

The "Incentives for Occupational Reintegration" program replaces the pilot project "Occupational Reintegration Initiative," with which Suva has reintegrated 180 insured persons and saved CHF 30 million in pension payments over the past five years.

http://www.suva.ch