When you’ve just announced a price rise, it’s often a good idea as a company to lay low and not give people an excuse to throw you back into the public conversation. However it seems as though Swiss Post is a firm that craves the limelight: after confirming that the cost of sending a letter will rise by 2024, the postal service has gone ahead and announced a three-million franc private party for its workers featuring iconic local artists.

DJ Bobo set to perform at exclusive Swiss Post event

While DJ Bobo - a cult dance and techno artist famous for his nul point performance of “Vampires are Alive” at Eurovision in 2007 - Stefanie Heinzmann, Francine Jordi and Stephan Eicher sounds like a pretty reasonable lineup for a Swiss festival, these iconic acts are just a few set to perform at a private concert for Swiss Post workers. The event will take place on August 18 and 19 at the company's headquarters in Zofingen, Canton Aargau.

Speaking to Watson, Swiss Post confirmed that each of their employees will be given a free public transport ticket, food, drink and admission to the festival - the total budget for the event will be 3 million francs. The site is set to accommodate up to 47.000 Swiss Post workers at one time, as they dance through the night listening to top musical talent.

Spokesperson Jacqueline Bühlmann explained that the festival is designed to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the company. "With this, Swiss Post is expressing its gratitude and appreciation for the day-to-day commitment of its employees to the company and the Swiss population", she told Watson.

Many have criticised the 3-million-franc free concert

However, the generous announcement comes at quite an awkward time, with the company recently announcing that the cost of letters and parcels in Switzerland would be rising by 2024. In March, CEO Roberto Cirillo said that the company needed to “tighten its belts” and make savings of 100 million francs by the end of the decade in order to stay afloat.

Given the context, FDP. The Liberals National Councillor Christian Wasserfallen told Watson that he was surprised that the company had enough money “for such an exorbitantly expensive celebration." “The post office is a state company. Such a party with expensive stars sends a completely wrong signal in times of price increases and austerity measures", he added.

Syndicom, the union that represents Swiss postal workers, said that while it will “always welcome signs of appreciation from employers”, staff responses have been mixed. They noted that on the one hand, some workers think it is a fantastic idea, while others say it will take away budget from other events, while “from the Romande came the complaint that the music program was too heavily geared towards a Swiss German audience.”

Swiss Post price rises and festival not mutually exclusive, says company

In response, Bühlmann said that doing without the festival would not have stopped prices from rising, noting that appreciating workers and raising costs are not mutually exclusive and that the majority of the money will be sourced from previous events' leftover budget. She added that not a single franc of taxpayer money will be used to fund the festival.

The spokesperson concluded that the feedback the company has received has been very positive so far. "Many are looking forward to the celebration together", she concluded.