In addition, Lonza is investing a further half a billion francs in Stein in Aargau. Over the past decade, the company has doubled its headcount at Visp to 5,000. 500 new jobs have been added in this year alone.
Lonza pays CHF 400 million a year in fees and pension fund contributions at Visp, and an average of CHF 100 million to local third-party companies where the group needs to grow. Lonza’s failure to pay income tax in Valais for 6 years sparked controversy in the canton.
Baehni pointed out that in addition to the many new jobs, the group also employs 250 apprentices at the Visp facility. There is probably no other company in Switzerland that invests as much and creates new jobs as Lonza.
Lonza is not just any Swiss company in a peripheral region. Moderna’s order for the active ingredient in its Covid vaccine has given the company a huge boost in its reputation and helped attract talent worldwide. Lonza is very attractive to a young biochemist.
(SDA)