Are the lean years coming?
In total, Robert Perich attended around 550 school board meetings and worked with a total of 18 school board members (six of whom were presidents). What he appreciates about working in the school management is how the members discuss controversial dossiers with respect and respect and in a fact-oriented manner: “We didn’t primarily represent our departmental interests, we always had the well-being of the organization as a whole in mind.”
If Perich now handed over the finance department of the ETH to his successor Stephen Spiegel (cf. ETH-News of March 10th, 2023), he leaves behind a financially solid ETH. But how does he assess the future prospects? Will ETH have to tighten its belt soon, since the federal government has already announced cost-cutting measures that also affect education, research and innovation? Public finances are always subject to economic and structural cycles, says Perich. When he came to ETH in 2003, there was also a phase of increased pressure to save.
However, he points out that the stable and habitual growth prospects since 2020 have been clouded by the Corona crisis, the war in Ukraine, supply bottlenecks, rapidly rising inflation rates and rising energy and commodity prices. “It will be some time before the situation calms down again. Against this background, everyone at ETH will have to make savings in the near future. Nevertheless, I am convinced that ETH will emerge stronger from this.”
Finally, this: Robert Perich’s mandates also included gastronomy, university sports (ASVZ) and the ETH Store, which “made a special pleasure” – that’s why his employees surprised him with their own ETH sweater in pink when they left.
