Business · Economy · 17 hrs ago
Unemployed Swiss IT project manager starts a pizza business
Karl Moser, a 63-year-old former IT project manager, has been unemployed for a year and a half in Murten, Switzerland.
After his unemployment benefits ended five months ago, he started selling pizzas from a garage.
He says he wants to work in IT again but has received few responses to his applications.
He believes his age is a barrier, and says a human resources worker told him her company no longer invited applicants over 55.
A trade union representative says IT knowledge becomes outdated quickly, a change accelerated by artificial intelligence, while more jobs are being done in teams that need strong communication.
The union says companies should retrain workers and pay for it; an industry representative says employees also need to keep their skills current.
Moser’s pizza business is still in its early stages, and he says giving it up is not an option, although he would prefer to return to IT.
Karl Moser, a 63-year-old former IT project manager in Switzerland, has opened a garage pizzeria in Murten after struggling to find work.
He has been unemployed for a year and a half and has received no unemployment benefits for five months.
Moser says he would prefer to return to IT, but received few responses to applications and believes his age is a barrier.
His one-person business is not yet doing as well as he had hoped.
A union representative and an industry association representative differ on how responsibility for keeping workers’ skills current should be shared.
- Who
- Karl Moser, a 63-year-old former IT project manager, started the pizza business.
- What
- He runs a one-person pizzeria from a garage, making and delivering pizzas.
- When
- The article was published on 11 October 2026. Moser had been unemployed for a year and a half and without unemployment benefits for five months.
- Where
- In an industrial area in Murten, Switzerland.
- Why
- He says he received few responses to IT job applications and wanted to keep working rather than wait for a job.
Syndicom
Swiss-ICT
Responsibility for keeping skills current
Syndicom
Syndicom calls on companies to retrain workers and pay for it.
Swiss-ICT
Swiss-ICT says responsibility is shared by companies and employees, who must also keep their knowledge up to date.
How to learn about AI
Syndicom
Not stated as a separate position.
Swiss-ICT
Swiss-ICT representative Urs Gurtner says workers learn to use AI through daily work and collaboration, which takes time and does not primarily require courses.
I am still too fit to just sit somewhere and wait for the day to pass.
In the ICT industry, speed is essential.
We therefore call on companies to retrain people.
Employees also have a duty to keep their knowledge up to date and make an effort.
Moser ran a bar in southern Spain and sold pizzas there.
Moser became unemployed after working as an IT project manager.
Moser stopped receiving unemployment benefits.
SRF reported that Moser was running a garage pizzeria in Murten.
- Age
- 63
- Location
- Industrial area in Murten, Switzerland
- Previous role
- IT project manager
- Time unemployed
- A year and a half
- Without unemployment benefits
- Five months
- Business
- One-person pizzeria making and delivering pizzas
Sources
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