For the fifth year in a row, the world's most popular passwords are now "123456" and "password" (password). This is the result of the software company NordPass, which each year anew a list of the Top 200 worst passwords published. To compile this list, the company evaluated more than 5 million published passwords accessible on the Dark Web. Such password databases mostly come from Europe and North America.

Many passwords circulate on the dark web

"In recent years, a gigantic database of private user information has come to light as a result of numerous data leaks and breaches. And lately, it seems like every few days we hear about a new such incident," said Daniel Markuson, digital privacy expert at NordVPN. "With access to such masses of sensitive data, cybercriminals can make use of it in a variety of ways. And that's exactly why using the same credentials for different services, websites and platforms is so dangerous."

Bad passwords: The top 10

Listed below are the ten worst passwords of 2020 that should never be used for Internet accounts under any circumstances:

1. 123456
2. 123456789
3. picture1
4. password
5. 12345678
6. 111111
7. 123123
8. 12345
9. 1234567890
10.  senha

How to create a strong password

Below are a few tips on how to create strong passwords that you still won't forget after a few minutes:

• Never use short passwords. The more characters a password has, the longer it takes for a hacker or other shady cybercriminal to crack it.
• Create a complex password. Use upper and lower case, symbols, special characters and numbers to create strong passwords.
• Use long passphrases. Using words from the dictionary is not recommended, but a combination of 6 to 7 random words is a good method. A combination like "left elephant shoes purple rugby vacation" is difficult to guess because of the length and randomness, but easy to remember.
• Rely on a mnemonic. Create memorable sentences by building a mnemonic. For example, a sentence like "I love to eat pizza with my friends in my free time!" can be coined. The first letters of the words then form the password "1leidFmmFPze!".
• Use a password manager. Strong passwords are difficult to remember, which is why a password manager is a good idea. Among the most popular are NordPass and 1Password.

Strong passwords are especially essential for services and websites where sensitive information is shared. These include online banking, shopping websites, home Wi-Fi, personal and work email, and some social media accounts.

The 17-strong crew at Revotool AG, which operates in Switzerland and Austria, has good reasons to celebrate: the company's 30th birthday and the fact that the employees are mastering a triple challenge in their day-to-day work. They attract manufacturers of high-quality work equipment, tools and consumables for construction and assembly as suppliers. Second, as importers, they serve dealers with products from the Revotool range. Third, they sell equipment - including custom-made products - and services to dealers.

On the road with renowned manufacturers

The team led by owner and managing director David Meier seems to be doing all this very well: Revotool AG has now become a long-standing partner in Switzerland and Austria for many companies active in the construction and ancillary construction trades, working with renowned manufacturers such as Panasonic or Hikoki and with over 1700 dealers. "We give our maximum. For example, if it is necessary to develop a custom-made tool, we are very happy to do it with our own mechanics and together with external specialists and the customer," stresses David Meier. "We appeal to companies to contact us even for particularly difficult requests. We're here to help." When it comes to service, she also singles out the crew at Revotool AG: "We repair defective equipment very quickly and offer replacement equipment. We are known for our express repair boxes. Our customers can put their devices in the boxes in their workshops and ask us for a replacement. The next day they will receive the new device. Those who book our all-inclusive service also have insurance included," adds David Meier. Revotool AG is also known for the devices of its own brand. With its company logo, the Uetendorf-based company gives these a stamp of quality that dealers and end customers particularly trust.

Revotool AG: More present than ever in its anniversary year

For David Meier, the anniversary is both satisfaction and confirmation. "The 'plant' Revotool AG continues to thrive and grow. This observation makes me happy. Apparently, the market still needs us after 30 years. Therefore, we do not want to take off. Quite the opposite: we want to and have to learn more every day and confirm ourselves again and again." In the anniversary year, communication is a concern for him. "We want to become even better known and are in the process of adapting our website. In addition, we are now also active in social media and have published the first issue of our company and customer magazine, `Revotool-time`. For our customers from French-speaking Switzerland, this is of course also available in French," says David Meier.

More information

Leomat specializes in vending machines that supply employees in companies with coffee, sweets and snacks at any time of day. What can be done when employees no longer work in the office but in their home offices - and the vending machines are used less as a result? The company from eastern Switzerland, which claims to be the only manufacturer of food vending machines in Switzerland, has a simple answer: "We deliver the products from the vending machine to the home office. If the workplace shifts, so do our services," says Managing Director Daniel Büchel.

New service "LEOPak

The new service runs under the name "LEOPak", is available immediately and is aimed at Swiss companies - no matter which locality in Switzerland, LEOPak will be shipped there. It is a matter of course for the company from Eastern Switzerland to react to changing situations and to always look for innovative solutions, adds Daniel Büchel. Especially in these challenging times, it is also important to recognize opportunities and take advantage of them.

Snack and other snacks

The LEOPaks supplied contain the same products as Leomat's vending machines. Currently, customers can choose from five different packages. There are packages with coffee beans or instant coffee. And those who prefer tea are also catered for. The remaining packages contain cold drinks. What they all have in common is that snacks and sweets are included for the small hunger in between or the snack break. "We also put together packages with other product mixes on request," notes Daniel Büchel. And if it will be possible to maintain the cold chain, lunch menus can also be delivered as LEOPak in the near future, which have so far been selling successfully through the vending machines.

Source and further information: Leomat 

As long as the topic of Corona dominates our (working) lives, many companies have no choice but to experiment with a wide variety of online formats in the event and communications sector. "Otherwise, they run the risk of losing touch with their employees and customers, and no longer acquiring new customers," says Jens-Uwe Meyer, management consultant and keynote speaker with many years of experience as a TV producer.

Well-known personalities alone are not enough for an online event

"Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the demand for keynote speakers for online formats has been rising continuously," emphasizes Yan Doll, DACH Country Manager at the speaker agency Athenas. But simply having a well-known personality or recognized specialist speak is not enough for an online event to work. Both experts agree on that. That's why they advise potential organizers to heed the following three tips, among others.

Tip 1: Impressive pictures please

In television, there is a term called "talking heads". It refers to people who seem to parrot on the screen forever, without any visual variety for the viewers. They are ratings killers. Many YouTubers have the same experience with videos in which they only talk on camera. This is interesting for a minute or two at most, then viewers tune out. "Even at live events, there has been a trend for years to visualize the speakers' messages with images and videos," Meyer emphasizes. "For online events, this is even more important. That's why their organizers should think about the visual concept very early on in the planning process."

Tip 2: Rather shorter, but more frequently

In the past, one to two-day formats have prevailed for face-to-face events in the congress and conference sector, with 30 to 60-minute presentations as the event framework; in between, there are coffee breaks and small workshops. For the following reason: The arrival and departure of many participants often took so long that they had to spend the night on site. So, from the organizer's point of view, they had to be offered a program around the clock to make this time investment worthwhile.

"In online conferences, meetings and kick-offs, you have to get the key messages across in a much shorter time than in traditional face-to-face events," Doll emphasizes. Speeches should be shorter and interactive elements such as audience questions via chat or interviews should be integrated into the presentations. Meyer adds, "The ideal length of an online event is 30 to 120 minutes maximum." For companies or speakers, this means: Get your message across. And for event organizers? Instead of monumental events, go for series of events.

Tip 3: Create highlights

Let's be honest: Are you happy when one video conference, one online meeting follows the next in your agenda? If so, you are an exotic: most people are not. The so-called "no-show rate" for online events - i.e. the number of registered participants who don't "show up" - is correspondingly high. It is significantly higher than for face-to-face events. "This is also because the organizer does not suffer any financial loss from the participant's point of view," says Doll, explaining the phenomenon. After all, he doesn't have to rent a room for the online event or set up a buffet for the get-together afterwards.

At the same time, however, in principle all interested parties worldwide could participate in an online event, provided language barriers are overcome - which makes the effective number of participants difficult to calculate. "Define your target group very precisely in advance," Meyer therefore advises. In addition, it is important to create highlights and communicate them accordingly. "Then address the potential participants in a graduated, targeted manner several times to arouse their curiosity. Increase their interest in the event - also via social media channels. And keep interest high after registration, for example, with content appetizers. Then the no-show rate is lower."

An online event is not a second-rate alternative

The Corona pandemic is forcing many companies to radically rethink their communications strategies. It will also change the way events are planned and executed in the medium and long term. "What we are currently experiencing is not a flash in the pan," Doll is certain. "Professionally executed online events will play a major role in corporate communications even after the pandemic." So will the number of "so-called hybrid conferences, which combine face-to-face events with live broadcasts," Meyer adds.

Meyer advises companies that want to equip themselves for the new digital communications world to take the above "basic tips" to heart and then simply get started and gain experience. There is no lack of technical possibilities. However, as is so often the case in business, the key to success is "knowing how.

Persons quoted in the text:

• Jens-Uwe Meyer is active as a top keynote speaker for innovation, digitalization and leadership in German and English-speaking countries and in Asia. He also designs virtual events for companies and leads them to success (Internet: https://jens-uwe-meyer.de).
• Yan Doll is the responsible Country Manager for the DACH region of Athenas, a speaker agency with numerous locations worldwide. The company arranges well-known speakers and personalities for presence and online events (Internet: https://www.athenas.de).

The "Cloud Trends 2021" study was conducted in 2020 for the second time with a total of 150 Swiss IT decision-makers. Their responses only partially confirmed the predictions they had made in 2018: from the on-premise focus in 2018 (47.7 % of Swiss respondents store their data in on-premise solutions - either in their own data center or in a private cloud), data actually migrated towards the public cloud by 2020, albeit only half as fast as expected.

Cloud Trends 2021: Public cloud share will continue to grow

By the end of 2020, more than half of Swiss IT decision-makers wanted to outsource 51.4 % of their data to the public cloud in 2018; in fact, their own data center still accounts for 39.4 % and public clouds for only 45%. The colocation share increased from 12 % to 13.2 % percent since 2018. Overall, it can be observed that the migration of data to the cloud is only happening half as fast as in the past.
as expected by Swiss decision-makers in 2018.

For 2022, respondents expect the following picture when it comes to application location: public clouds 55.4 % (+16 %), colocation 12.9 % (-0.3 % and own data center 27.4 % (-12 %)x - so the big push into clouds has been delayed by 2 years.

Applications that stay close

However, not all data migrates to the same infrastructure. Four groups can be distinguished. The first group comprises the applications that remain in the vicinity: For ERP, CRM, supply chain management and storage, a migration towards the cloud is discernible. In 2018, up to three quarters of the data load is still in the company's own data center. By the end of 2020, they have already been distributed much more strongly to colocation and public cloud solutions, albeit much less strongly than expected. The cloud share is currently 26.4 % on average. Business-relevant data does not need to be scaled quickly, and security and direct access are also important. For
However, by 2022, over 50 % of these critical applications are expected to be sourced from the public cloud.

The localists

The second group can be called the localists: HR, marketing automation and backup were already strongly represented in the public cloud in 2018. In the case of HR applications, 56.7 % of respondents will be using the public cloud at the end of 2020 (+15 %), marketing automation 73.3 % (+9.2 %) and backup 44.2 % (+2.3 %). The reason: here it is a matter of flexible access and secured performance. In the area of marketing automation, the data must also be easily available to external partners and service providers. For HR and marketing automation, stagnation is expected up to 2022, while the cloud share for backup is expected to grow by 20 %.

The cloud mixed models

For database applications, a broad spread across deployment models was expected in 2018. This has not materialized by the end of 2020 and own data centers continue to dominate here. Everything from the private cloud in the company's own data center to the hyperscaler is in use here. In this application group, it depends on the industry and the specific data handled in each case which infrastructure offers the most advantages.

Your own data center deserted? Not as fast as expected!

In 2018, Swiss decision-makers expected a large migration to the cloud. But instead of only 26.3 % of all applications, 39.4 % will still be operated as a monolithic application or in a private cloud in their own data center at the end of 2020. The resilience of the own data center is particularly well demonstrated by the Development/Testing area, for which 85 % public cloud shares were expected in 2018. Instead, the real shares at the end of 2020 show that there has been no more significant shift to the public cloud. The area even declines slightly from 72 % to 71 %.

2020: The multi-cloud world

The study shows that the trend toward multi-cloud is continuing or has solidified. As early as 2018, 60 % of the decision-makers surveyed reported that they use up to five service providers for Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service. By the end of 2020, 64.7 percent said they were already using up to 10 cloud providers. Here, the focus has clearly shifted towards diversity.

Cloud Connectivity Hubs are the interface to all infrastructures

IT decision-makers looking for the right infrastructure for their future business success will find the best location in so-called Cloud Connectivity Hubs. There, they can operate their own private clouds securely and efficiently, but also have secure, high-performance access to hyperscalers and local public clouds through the colocation location. In this way, hybrid clouds can be set up efficiently. This is also shown by the growth of colocation as a deployment model from 12 % to 13.6 %.

Source: Interxion

Business messaging is not as new as one might think. Gartner first mentioned the term "enterprise instant messaging" in its Hype Cycle back in 2001. And in 2007, the market research expert states that enterprise instant messaging had reached its productivity peak - at a time when neither smartphones nor WhatsApp existed. Many innovations have only emerged in the last five years, so the functionalities of messengers have evolved considerably. In addition, the Corona crisis and the increase in cyber attacks reinforce the need for holistic and, above all, DSGVO-compliant communication - both internally and externally. On the one hand, it is necessary to ensure smooth information flows to enable effective collaboration. And on the other hand, to find a solution that meets the standards of a secure IT landscape.

A viable alternative to WhatsApp

To prevent the emergence of shadow IT, a privacy-compliant alternative to consumer apps such as WhatsApp is needed. Such a communication solution must not only be intuitive to use and thus user-friendly, but also ensure uncomplicated exchange. What's more, it must be flexible enough to constantly evolve in line with future trends in instant messaging.

Trend 1: Messenger as a communication hub

In contrast to consumer apps, business messaging solutions will develop into a communication hub. This means that a messenger acts as a central hub where data from different source systems converge and from there reach different target systems. In short, the communication hub ensures holistic data exchange by intelligently linking all communication and information systems via open interfaces. Many processes are still inhibited by data silos, which make information exchange slow, costly and error-prone. A communication hub makes it possible to digitalize exchange processes and workflows to the greatest possible extent and to provide them automatically - and consequently to accelerate them. In this way, both internal communication between employees and external exchange with partners and customers can be improved. In addition, it will be possible to have different providers, services and clouds communicate with each other through a federation. In this way, different companies can be connected with each other via a communication hub.

Trend 2: Individual use cases

Messaging solutions are integrating more and more functions to cover any use case and make information exchange even easier. Sending text and voice messages is as much a part of the standard repertoire as sharing digital content. Beyond that, they have long offered more:

• Distribution liststo quickly set up group chats, even with more than 2000 recipients;
• Alertsto ensure direct emergency communication and coordination using acknowledgement options and alarm reports;
• Live location transmission, to send whereabouts in real time;
• Open APIsto automatically and quickly retrieve data and information from connected third-party systems;
• Chat widgets for website and WhatsApp connection, to facilitate the exchange of information with customers and partners.

In the future, dedicated communications solutions for individual industries, organizations or even departments will also emerge. These holistic solutions offer special functions that reflect both employee needs and individual requirements. Already today, for example, there are tailored business messaging solutions for blue light organizations and the healthcare sector.

Trend 3: AI-optimized communication

Artificial intelligence is the next logical step in the digital transformation. And it will also increasingly find its way into communication solutions. While general chatbots, which can be defined as an AI precursor, are almost old hat, a far more complex AI-optimized communication, keyword: Conversational AI, will support employees. Conversational AI agents will use information from disparate systems, aggregate it and, based on it, recommend actions. For example: a sales representative is on his way to a customer. The app records his live location and passes this information to the connected CRM system. Using the geo and CRM data, the algorithm checks which customers are nearby or on the way. For example, the Conversational AI Agent can recommend visiting another customer because the last meeting took place some time ago. In this way, the efficiency of work processes can be sustainably increased.

Trend 4: Employee Experience

Messenger and intranet, in the sense of a social intranet, are becoming increasingly intertwined. It is conceivable, for example, to integrate a social intranet application into a messaging solution to create a comprehensive employee channel. In addition to group and 1:1 chats, for example, there are separate channels that keep employees up to date on company news. These are displayed as an activity stream that functions like a news feed updated by the second. Unlike the classic intranet, which disseminates information via top-down communication, the social intranet allows employees to interact with the content. That is, all employees can like, comment and share it. As a result, they are more likely to feel heard and can better identify with the company.

Trend 5: New devices and user interfaces

It's not just messengers that are becoming more sophisticated. In addition to smartphones, new end devices will emerge with unprecedented user interfaces that are ideally suited to individual use cases and make use even more intuitive. Promising candidates for this are smartwatches, which have undergone rapid technical development in recent years. They are lightweight, robust, and offer an increasing number of functions, making them particularly suitable for mobile forces such as police officers and rescue workers. Smartglasses or data glasses are also conceivable. These can offer remarkable advantages in situations where it is important to have both hands free. For example, they enable doctors to view patient records quickly and easily during examinations. Smartglasses also help logistics employees locate stored goods. It is conceivable that the position of the goods to be loaded - including directions in the case of a large warehouse - can be called up while the employee is on the move with the forklift truck.

Trend 6: Even higher data protection

In step with the functionalities, which are continuously evolving, the technical security requirements for business messaging solutions will be even more comprehensive in the future. By linking systems, a secure container on the end device will be just as important for data management as holistic data and access management. At the same time, the threat of cyber attacks is growing along with the technical possibilities. It will therefore be essential to further strengthen the encryption algorithms used for communication and to establish additional security functions.

AI and smart devices are just the beginning in business messaging

Messaging solutions already enable device-, time- and location-independent collaboration. Their potential is far from exhausted. This is illustrated not least by the trends that can be identified for the next few years. The move away from e-mail to instant messaging will change corporate communications in the long term and offer new opportunities. That much is certain.

To the author:
Tobias Stepan is founder and managing director of Teamwire GmbH (teamwire.eu), which specializes in secure and confident instant messaging for enterprises, government agencies and healthcare. Previously, he implemented growth and turnaround projects at high-tech companies as a consultant and built up the European business of the American IT start-up Servo until its exit to the Japanese Kii Corporation. Tobias Stepan is committed to mobile digitization and a strong, European IT ecosystem.

Visable, the parent company of the B2B platforms Europages and wlw, continues to grow: In terms of figures, the Corona year brought the company sales of around CHF 61 million with high profitability. This is an increase of six percent. New customer business achieved an increase of 23 percent. Access figures have been rising steadily on both platforms since March 2020 and are on average almost 20 percentage points up on the previous year. Peter F. Schmid, CEO of Visable, sees the reason for this in the changed procurement processes that SMEs have been forced to adopt as a result of lockdowns and trade fair cancellations. "The developments of recent months have shown more clearly than ever that SMEs can only look to a successful future if they act digitally. The proof of this is our steadily rising access figures to Europages and wlw," he concludes about 2020.

wlw and Europages most frequently used B2B platforms in Europe

With more than 75,000 queries daily via the country domains wlw.ch, wlw.de and wlw.at, as well as Europages, with around 190,000 searches per day, Visable's B2B platforms were the most frequently used in Europe. But it was not only the access and revenue figures that grew in 2020. Visable created around 50 new jobs last year, bringing the number of employees to 410 at the Baar, Hamburg, Berlin, Münster and Paris sites.

Europages received search queries from 221 countries in 2020, most of them from France, Italy and Germany. Beyond Europe, buyers from North Africa, the USA, Asia and South America in particular searched via the platform. One query even came from the remote Christmas Islands. At wlw, search queries from the DACH region dominate. However, the USA and China are also in the top 10. wlw also received inquiries from a total of over 200 countries.

Major relaunch with investments in technology and brand identity for wlw

In September, "Wer liefert was" officially became wlw. A revised corporate design including a new logo and claim has since ensured even greater recognition value. The heart of the new wlw provides a special user experience: the artificial intelligence-based full text search replaced the category search and achieves even more relevant and accurate search results, according to reports. Another milestone: the wlw Connect search service became an equal search option alongside the classic search. The wlw Connect service completely relieves buyers of the search work. They only have to formulate their requirements and then receive qualified search results.

2021 holds further challenges for SMEs and opportunities for Visable

The new year will also demand a lot from the global economy. In many European countries, many areas of economic life continue to stand still. Already, numerous trade fairs have been canceled. "Every SME faces the question: How and where can new customers be reached and found? In this context, the importance of digital platforms and alternatives of trade shows will continue to grow significantly. Visable supports companies with its two own platforms and services to get through the new year as successfully as possible," explains Visable CEO Peter F. Schmid. He is thoroughly optimistic about 2021. "This year, we are again aiming for double-digit percentage growth and will continue to invest in our technologies. To do so, we will also expand our expertise with new talent and experts, helping SMEs gain more visibility on the global web and making procurement as easy and efficient as possible for buyers."

Source and further information

Never before have so many new companies been founded in Switzerland as in 2020. But the Swiss entrepreneurial landscape is also on the move in other respects: More and more women are choosing the path to self-employment. This has been investigated by the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland. The data comes from a survey of new companies founded between 2014 and 2019.

Share of women has doubled within 20 years

The average start-up person in Switzerland is male, 40.4 years old, childless, has a university degree, around 22 years of professional experience and some management experience. Since the first survey 20 years ago, the proportion of women among founders has almost exactly doubled and now amounts to 31.6 percent. The proportion of founders with an academic background has also increased massively. Every second founder now has a bachelor's, master's or doctorate degree. Twenty years ago, it was still one in three.

Among the motives for becoming self-employed, factors such as self-realization, independence and implementing one's own ideas are clearly at the top of the list. The pursuit of a meaningful activity is also rated as very important. Far less important are the continuation of family traditions, the prospect of a higher income, power or prestige. The motives for self-employment have changed very little over the past 20 years.

Entrepreneurial landscape is changing - starting a business has become more affordable

The new companies are small and growing less than 10 or 20 years ago. The average start-up has no employees when it is founded and only one or two after 3.5 years. Three quarters of the new self-employed have had to invest less than 50,000 francs at the beginning (20 years ago, almost half had to invest more than 50,000 francs at the start). In the last 20 years, it has become easier and cheaper - financially speaking - to start a business.

The most important reference persons in the establishment and management of the company are family, relatives and acquaintances and the former business environment. Very few founders make use of government agencies such as business development agencies, either in preparing the start-up or in the event of difficulties.

Higher satisfaction in entrepreneurship

Overall, the founders are extremely satisfied with their self-employment. The new self-employed see themselves as very successful, have positive prospects for the future and are in a good financial position. Likewise, they rate their development prospects as very good, especially in terms of sales and profits. "The study shows that the new self-employed are successful and more satisfied than in employment, even though they work more and earn less on average," says Prof. Dr. Rolf Meyer, the study's co-author.

The data obtained will be used to publish further research reports later in the year, for example on female entrepreneurship or the success factors of the new self-employed.

Source and further information: University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland

A common but often unquestioned mechanism: When people first get to know each other, similarities make the other person seem more likeable. This is not least due to the fact that most people view situations, fellow human beings or behavior through their personal filter. This filter is shaped by culture, socialization, education and other value-determining experiences of each individual. Thus, facts and people are always viewed in an unconsciously biased manner. "This phenomenon of unconscious bias is called 'Unconscious Bias'. In an operational context, these patterns of perception - partly shaped by gender stereotypes and clichés - still have a major influence on the demographic composition of a company," explains Tanya Akin, expert for Diversity and Inclusion at flowedoo GmbH. This is because unconscious prejudices are still often the basis for decision-making among many managers, employees and HR managers who are committed to diversity and openness. The only way to counter this is to consciously question ingrained perceptions again and again and to introduce standardized procedures.

Step in the right direction

It has long been known that diverse teams are an asset to companies: The more colorful, the better. Diversity in the workplace increases productivity and promotes creative problem-solving processes, as a study conducted by StepStone and the Handelsblatt Media Group in 2020 showed. But it is also a statement to the outside world, a sign that a company welcomes everyone, regardless of skin color, age, religion or gender. "However, setting up a diverse team is not always as easy as it first sounds. The main reason for this is thought to be hidden biases that influence hiring decisions," Akin says. Overcoming these subconscious biases doesn't always prove easy, and many companies still struggle with them.

With bias training against unconscious bias

In order to introduce diversity management, companies should first collect data and find out exactly where biases have an impact in their processes: in recruiting, in performance appraisals or in promotions. They need a strategy for making processes and systems more bias-free. Bias training is seen as a helpful building block here. "Employees learn in these trainings that the disadvantage is not in having biases, but in not recognizing them and making unreflective decisions. When employees and managers become aware of their Unconscious Biases, they simultaneously reduce their influence - not only on a personal level, but also structurally and systemically throughout the organization," Akin explains.

Filters investigation

Particularly in the current climate, it is essential to uncover hidden prejudices through self-reflection and to try to eliminate them. This applies not only to hiring processes, but to all processes in the entire organization. Incidentally, making teams more colorful should also not be about prioritizing diversity over whites, men or cis people, but about creating equality for those who experience unequal treatment and are affected by structural discrimination. "Professional trainers work with a bundle of methods that they use, for example, to shed light on traditional role models, their own corporate culture and also ethnic attributions," says the diversity expert. In addition, they examine the relevant processes in the companies for possible filters, which primarily concerns HR areas. Corrective measures range from mandatory position descriptions to anonymizing application documents. But objectifying procedures is not enough, as decisions are still made by people who are often influenced by personnel preferences, perception biases and associated discrimination. "Nevertheless, one thing is certain: if organizations remain at a standstill, that is, if they ignore the diverse society, sooner or later this will have a negative impact. Be it through high employee turnover within the company or even through these organizations not being able to find employees in the medium or long term - after all, who wants to work in a toxic environment?" concludes Tanya Akin.

Source and further information: www.flowedoo.de

In a representative survey conducted at the end of November by the online comparison service Comparis, 53 percent of survey participants said they had a 3a pension solution. Of these, almost one in five (21 percent) paid less or not at all into the third pillar in the past year. "This reflects, among other things, the loss of wages due to short-time work as well as Corona-related layoffs," says Leo Hug, pension expert at Comparis. When asked about the reasons for not paying in, 43 percent of those affected claimed a lower income than in the previous year.

36 percent have invested savings portion elsewhere in 2020

Although income setbacks are the most frequently cited argument for declining transfers to pillar 3a, they are not the only one. 19 percent of 3a savers who paid less or nothing into their retirement savings account said they had used their savings portion for other investment vehicles, such as direct investments in equities in a bank custody account. 17 percent of respondents said they had no money left over for the third pillar because of a major purchase.

Three quarters of people who normally pay into pillar 3a invested the same amount of money or more in tax-privileged private pension provision in 2020 than in the previous year. Of these, slightly more than half (59 percent) paid in the maximum amount (CHF 6,826 for people with a connection to a pension fund) - significantly more men than women (64 percent versus 52 percent).

Early retirements have an effect on pillar 3a

80 percent of 3a savers aged up to 55 invested more or the same amount in pillar 3a last year as in the previous year. By contrast, only 56 percent of those over 56 did so. A quarter (25 percent) of those over 56 even decided not to pay into their 3a account at all.

"The significantly lower payments of the elderly are hardly related to economic consequences of the Corona pandemic," Hug explains. "In this age group, there are many early retirees without earned income subject to AHV who have not yet cashed out their pillar 3a."

Source: Comparis

Distance rules, home office guidelines and increased health precautions have significantly changed the recruitment processes of Swiss companies. This is shown, among other things, by the JobCloud Market Insights, which were conducted in cooperation between JobCloud (jobs.ch, jobup.ch) and the ZHAW were conducted. This digital survey found that more than half of all organizations in Switzerland have adapted their recruiting processes in response to current challenges. "Large companies in particular saw a need for adaptation. While about half of small and medium-sized companies said they had changed their recruitment processes, this proportion is almost three quarters among large companies," specifies Davide Villa, CEO of JobCloud.

Good 60% have switched to digital interviews

The adjustments to the recruiting processes are most evident in the job interviews. In the survey, for example, almost 60% of the companies in German-speaking Switzerland stated that they hold the first interview digitally, while in French-speaking Switzerland the figure is 44%. Only selected candidates are then invited to a personal interview. More than a quarter of the companies surveyed in French-speaking Switzerland and one in six in German-speaking Switzerland even forgo face-to-face interviews altogether. "Since French-speaking Switzerland has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, the switch to digitized interviews here has tended to be complete," says Prof. Dr. Frank Hannich of ZHAW. Increasing digitization in the recruitment process is also evident in the increased use of digital tests and assessments.

New recruitment processes are here to stay - especially at large companies

For many companies, the changed recruiting processes will go beyond the Corona crisis. This is especially true for larger companies: The larger the company, the more likely they are to want to use the learnings in the recruiting process and retain adaptations, although not all of them. Only a few large companies said they wanted to return to the old recruitment process (6%). While few mid-sized companies also want to return to the old way of doing things (13%), just under a quarter of small companies do. "The Corona crisis has proven that many processes can be successfully digitized and has triggered a learning process that will permanently change recruitment," says Davide Villa with conviction.

Recruitment budget remains unchanged in many cases

Despite the current challenges, the recruitment budget in 2020 remained untouched in many companies. For example, just under 70% of the companies surveyed in German-speaking Switzerland stated that their recruitment budget had not changed over the course of 2020. For companies in French-speaking Switzerland, however, the crisis seemed to have a greater impact on the recruitment budget - here, around half were planning to make cuts. Small companies with up to 49 employees and large companies with more than 500 employees were more affected by budget cuts than medium-sized companies. Medium-sized companies reacted least to the crisis and mostly maintained their budgets.

Source: Jobcloud

Since 2004, the Swiss industry association for outplacement ACF (Swiss Association of Companies for Personal and Organizational Change) has been collecting key data on the reintegration into the labor market of job-seeking individuals served by ACF members in Switzerland. The current statistics cover data over four years from 2017 to 2020. The demand for professional advice and personalized services in the field of outplacement and newplacement, assements and coaching, not least to avoid wrong decisions in recruitment or promotions, has continued to grow over the past year. In 2020, ACF Switzerland's association members assisted almost 5,000 candidates, an increase of around 25 percent and a new high.

Markedly more people looking for jobs as a result of the Corona crisis

The experts at ACF Switzerland attribute the increase not least to the current difficult economic situation as a result of the Corona crisis with rising unemployment rates on the Swiss labor market. The assumption is that companies have taken the tougher conditions on the labor market into account and are taking their social responsibility towards their employees seriously and supporting them more generously. In particular, many specialists and managers are also losing their positions as a result of Corona. Particularly since the fall of 2020, ACF association members have therefore recorded a marked increase in corresponding consulting mandates. According to a survey conducted in November 2020 survey conducted among association members, the ACF expects the situation to worsen further and that hardly any industry will be spared in 2021. ACF therefore expects a second wave of redundancies in the winter half-year, although the extent is still uncertain.

Jobseekers over 50 also find a new job within around eight months

The average time to professional reintegration into the labor market increased in 2020 and averaged 8.18 months (2019: 7.31). Jobseekers over 50 also found a new job within eight months (2019: 7.14). Once again, the oft-repeated claim that people over 50 who are looking for a job are unlikely to find one is not true. Once again, more than four-fifths (84.94 %) of candidates mentored by ACF association members found a new challenge within two to eight months in 2020 (2019: 85.17 %). Or, to put it another way, the probability of finding a job again within 8 months or less is almost 85 percent when professional support is involved in the reintegration into the work process.

When looking for a job, the personal network is still the most important success factor

Personal networking, i.e. the active use of the personal network of contacts with friends, acquaintances and former professional colleagues, was again by far the most efficient way to find a new job in 2020. In almost half of the cases (45.43 %), job seekers used it to find their new job, slightly more than in the previous year (2019: 44.8 %). In second place were almost unchanged advertisements and the Internet with 31.32 % (2019: 31.4 %). Tending to decrease further compared to the previous year were search and recruitment agencies with 8.85 % (2019: 10.21 %), in-house implementation with 4.34 % (2019: 5.5 %), and the share of spontaneous applications also fell sharply to 4.33 % (2019: 5.46 %).

Corona crisis accelerates trends such as flexible working and digital skills

Meanwhile, the use of social media channels more than doubled to 5.63 % (2019: 2.6 %), reaching the highest level in the last four years. According to the experience of ACF's outplacement experts, social media can be effective when used in combination with other channels and as a means to an end. The abrupt change in the world of work in the wake of the Corona pandemic has accelerated trends such as flexible working, leadership accompanied by high emotional competence, and further training in digital skills.

As a result, demand for outplacement services has shifted toward programs with longer durations and individualized services. Of the nearly 5,000 candidates supported by ACF members, about 3,200 requested individual coaching last year, an increase of about 13 percent over the previous year (2019: about 2,800). There was also very marked growth in the number of group outplacements - i.e. programs in groups with forms of work ranging from short workshops to comprehensive support for restructuring in collaboration with the respective companies - which increased by around 33 percent to more than 1600 (2019: around 1200) and correspond to around 34% of the total outplacement programs. Also in 2020, about 40 % of the job seekers served by ACF were women, and just under 60 % were men.

Corona crisis affects specialists and managers in administrative and corporate headquarters

The experts at ACF attribute the increase in both individual and group programs to the fact that, above all, individual needs in consulting and support are to be taken into account not only for managing directors and executives, but also increasingly for specialists and, in general, for employees leaving the company.

The educational level of people looking for jobs continues to rise steadily over the period under review. Since 2018, most candidates have a university or polytechnic degree. In 2020, this proportion has risen to its highest level to date at 62.2 % (2019: 54.15 %), which is likely to continue to be related to the increasing share of consultations in the service sector versus the industrial sector. According to ACF experts, the high share in 2020 may indicate that the increasing restructuring plans in the wake of the Corona crisis have strongly influenced the central functions in administrative and corporate headquarters.

The service sector hired more candidates than it fired

Also in 2020, the majority of job seekers (46.44 %) came from the services sector (50.41 % in 2019), followed by the industrial sector, whose share grows from 37.91 % in 2019 to 42.98 % in 2020. According to the Outplacement Association, these figures indicate the increasing restructuring as a result of the Corona pandemic in the industrial sector, and there especially in the manufacturing industry. Also striking is the increase in the number of job seekers from administrative agencies to 6.21 % (2019: 4.98 %) and the decrease in those from non-profit organizations to 5.37 % (2019: 6.7 %).

Just under 10 percent took the plunge into self-employment

On the other hand, almost half of the candidates (49.04 %) found reemployment in the service sector (2019: 50.11 %), while 31.82 % were reemployed in the industrial sector (2019: 32.44 %). ACF Switzerland therefore assumes that the service sector hired more candidates than it laid off, while the industrial sector parted with more employees on balance. Slightly more hiring is also taking place in administrations at 5.82 % (2019: 5.47%), and only 1.4 % in non-profit organizations (2019: 2.96 %), the smallest figure so far in recent years. Self-employment, on the other hand, reached a new high of 9.92 % (2019: 9.02 %), meaning that almost one in ten candidates ventured into self-employment.

Source: ACF