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Switzerland: 25% job cut at Swissmint due to lack of demand for coins

Started by eurocoin, June 06, 2022, 05:07:58 PM

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eurocoin

Swiss mint: Redundancies due to lack of demand for cash

Swissmint is running out of work. Now the federal office, which produces everything from five rappen to five francs, is firing the first employees.

It used to be cheaper to make money. The two alloy metals used in Swiss coins are at record highs: copper  – more expensive than almost ever. Nickel is also in demand, where a kilo currently costs 26 francs. In 2017 it was just under 10 francs. On top of that, there are the rising energy costs for melting, pressing and minting.

For 2022, the Federal Mint, modern Swissmint, has produced fewer coins than it has since 1956. In total there were still 21 million circulation coins produced. A comparison with the two previous years shows the extent of the meltdown. A year ago, the federal agency produced 50 million Swiss coins, the year before it was 78 million. A real nosedive.

This now also impacts the employees. Almost every fourth place had to disappear. "Swissmint had to reduce its workforce from 21 to 16 people," said Managing Director Marius Haldimann when asked. Most redundancies happened through natural fluctuations.

Stock levels at the Swiss National Bank (SNB) are given as the reason for the low number of minted coins. Since these are currently so high due to Covid-19, Swissmint was no longer able to produce circulation coins. Haldimann: "Swissmint has no influence on the quantities of the production programme". In fact, physical cash transactions are decreasing more and more. Corona did not initiate this trend, but strengthened it. This is the conclusion of a study by the University of St. Gallen and the ZHAW . "Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, cash use has decreased significantly, while digital payment methods have gained in importance."

This trend poses a problem for Swissmint. It is trying to fill the gap with collector coins. But here, too, the numbers are pointing in the wrong direction. There are fewer and fewer collectors in Switzerland. The descent is evident in the once popular Swiss commemorative coins, which are also issued by Swissmint. More than 150,000 copies were sold in the past. For example, the "Zürcher Sechseläuten" coin from 2001. With a number of 190,000 pieces, it was huge business for Swissmint. After that it just went down. Only 32,000 commemorative coins were sold this year. The 2022 coin shows the Morteratsch Glacier. How fitting: Gletscher and Swissmint are both struggling with melting dynamics.

One cannot accuse the mint of being shocked. She tries everything to attract new collectors. In 2020 she surprised with the "smallest gold coin in the world". The really mini-mini coin on which Albert Einstein sticks his tongue out weighs 0.063 grams. This year, Swissmint also ventured into the precious metal platinum. The coin was produced in a mintage of 999. Swissmint could have produced more here. All 999 platinum coins, which could only be obtained online, were sold within a few hours. Price: 799 francs. A few days later they appeared on Ricardo.ch . For up to 4,500 francs.

CEO Haldimann has had his top job for 10 years. More problems have been piling up at the federal mint lately. The customer magazine "Heads or Tails" was discontinued - a "successor product is in the planning stage" (Haldimann). Three years ago, Swissmint tendered for a new coin testing system because the old one "no longer corresponded to the current state of the art". Nothing was found, the order was aborted. Haldimann: "The quality of the products is still ensured by the existing measuring equipment and was never endangered."

Criticism also comes from politics. The accusation: The Swissmint web shop literally collapsed when it came to new editions because "the onslaught of numerous speculators paralyzed the Swissmint website." In fact, Swissmint has repeatedly misjudged the forecast sales figures of late. After a total of 20 years at Swissmint, one would think that the CEO should know the business. Haldimann writes back that the mintage figures are chosen in such a way "that they can be sold out and the costs of the commemorative coins can be covered".

The nice thing about Swissmint: all figures are public. But one thing remains secret: the salary scale in which the CEO falls.

Quelle: Inside Paradeplatz

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Also see this earlier post. A while ago there had also been some criticism about the way Swissmint sells its coins. Unfortunately this article is for subscribers only. :-\