eneral increase in vacationentitlement from four to five weeks and in 1976 they voted against the introduction of the40 hour week. Strikes are rare and workplace absenteeism is low.Future fields of workWith its pharmaceuticals industry, federal institutes of technology and other specialisedinstitutes and research facilities, Switzerland is well set to face the future in suchfast-developing areas as biotechnology and molecular biology.The new millenniumIn a league table compiled by the Financial Times, Switzerland is ranked highest amongcountries best placed to develop their high-technology industries. The FT bases itscalculations on data provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment (OECD) and calls the result "surprising", as, it says, "Switzerland is notuniversally regarded as being at the top level in innovation and entrepreneurship, thoughit is known for its high quality of business life."The changing world of workThe structure of the Swiss economy changed considerably at the end of the 20th century.The number of farming jobs fell by 25% between 1985 and 1995. Traditionally importantindustries such as construction and engineering also declined, while most branches in theservice sector continued to grow. In 1995 more people were employed in health andsocial welfare than in any other area. InsuranceApart from compulsory insurance like state pension contributions (approximately 5% ofearnings), pension fund (approximately 6% of earnings) and unemployment insurance(1.5%), the Swiss need a lot of money for private insurance; in 1998 an average familyspent nearly 12% of its household budget on additional insurance, including obligatoryhealth insurance. This is very high in comparison with other countries. Despite this,insurance companies earn half their money abroad. Switzerland is the leading insuranceexporter in Europe. Reinsurance (insurance for insurers), is also an important service,with up to 90% of the busine...
