Employment Outlook: Austria

August 21, 2019
By Mary Anne Thompson, Founder and President, GoinGlobal, Inc.

Even as the global economy slows, Austria continues to hire across multiple job sectors.

Austria has a diverse and well-developed market economy, high social stability, a high standard of living and a skilled labor force. Its economy has strong links with other European Union (EU) economies, especially Germany. Its third biggest trade partner, however, is the US.

Most Austrians are employed in services (information and communication technologies, financial and insurance activities, real estate, business activities, etc.), which account for 71.4% of all jobs, though, the construction and building industry have historically been the backbone of the economy. In recent years, ICT has seen strong growth. Austria also has a thriving tourism industry, which is also one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country.

Like most other European countries, SMEs (companies that employ fewer than 250 workers) dominate the economy, representing 99.7% of all businesses. SMEs employ more than 68.3% of the workforce. Employment growth at SMEs is expected to continue to grow in the near term, although, in general, all size companies can expect growth this year.

In general, however, businesses are not as optimistic as they once were about the future. As a consequence of the global economic slowdown, the country’s economic growth has also decelerated, with Wifo, one of Austria’s main economic think-tanks, predicting the falling of GDP from 2.7% last year to 1.7% this year and to 1.5% next year. Exports are also declining. As a result, the country will also experience an ease in employment growth and an increase of unemployment rate.

Current Employment and Hiring Plans

Nearly 30% of the population is employed part time. Part-time jobs are common in the trades, while seasonal jobs are frequent in the tourism and hospitality, agriculture and forestry industries. Freelance and non-fixed work contracts are becoming more common across all sectors.

The unemployment rate for workers under age 25 is a high 8.5%. Unemployment is generally higher in urban areas than in the countryside. The average unemployment rate is lower. It currently stands at 4.7%, and it’s expected to hover around this rate for the next year as well.

Hiring intentions for the near future are cautiously optimistic, according to global recruitment agency ManpowerGroup’s latest employer survey. While 88% of employers plan on making no changes to staff, 8% intend to hire and 2% plan to reduce staff. The remaining 2% remain uncertain of their plans. The strongest employment outlooks are in the financial services (+8%), construction and manufacturing (+7%) and trading (+6%) sectors. In general, however, the employment outlook has deteriorated in seven out of ten sectors year-on-year.

Economic growth is expected to continue over the next several years but at a slower pace. GDP is projected to fall from 1.7% this year to 1.46% until 2024.

Areas of Job Promise

Manpower reports the strongest employment outlook in the financial services sector, followed by the construction, manufacturing and trading sectors.

Most job opportunities over the next months will be found in the regions of Upper Austria and Vorarlberg, while Salzburg, Tyrol and Carinthia regions will experience moderate job prospects. In general, the employment outlook is optimistic in eight out of nine regions in the coming quarter.

Research: The government is investing in R&D 4.3 billion EUR this year. In the country, there are more than 60 industry clusters and customized funding programs. There are many ‘competence centers,’ known as COMET (Competence Centers for Excellent Technologies). They promote joint science/academic and industry initiatives and research in fields such as biotechnology, medical robotics, mechatronics, big data, pharmaceutical manufacturing and drug development, information security, automotive, waste processing technology and recycling.

Start-ups: Austria has a vibrant start-up culture with strong government support. According to Forbes, it is one of seven start-up hubs in Europe. Local start-ups are particularly strong in such fields as IT, media, life sciences and creative industries.

Vienna, in particular, is quickly becoming a Central European start-up hub. Talent Garden, Europe’s largest start-up campus network, has opened a co-working space in the capital. WeXelerate, the largest innovation center in Central and Eastern Europe, is also located there.

Ten start-ups to look out for this year:

  1. Mimo (app that teaches computer science and tasks such as making apps, building websites and coding)
  2. Proactivaudio (video conferencing, hands-free calling, speech recognition technology)
  3. GoStudent (offers a network of qualified tutors)
  4. Toolsense (digitalization of the construction industry)
  5. Zizzo (travel technology)
  6. Iron Mountain Interactive (gaming technology)
  7. Newsadoo (artificial intelligence applied to news feed and subscriptions)
  8. JobRocker (job search portal)
  9. Cashpresso (fin-tech’s financing solution)
  10. Timesheet (app for freelance workers)

Talent Shortages

To encourage immigration, the government has started issuing the Rot-Weiss-Rot-Karte (Red-White-Red Card), a special work permit focusing on technical and related industrial occupations.

Some professions experiencing talent shortages:

  1. Engineers (mechanical, civil, data processing, telecommunications, power)
  2. Construction joiners
  3. Accountants
  4. Carpenters
  5. Technicians
  6. Nurses
  7. Opticians
  8. Restaurant chefs
  9. Plumbers
  10. Wood machine workers

Source: Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour, Federal Ministry of Economics

By Sector

The main sectors with labor shortages, based on the shortage list from the Federal Ministry of Labour (Arbeitsminister/Arbeitsministerin) and the Federal Ministry of Economics (Wirtschaftsminister/Wirtschaftsministerin), are the following:

  • Construction/building trades
  • Engineering
  • Accounting
  • Machinery and automotive
  • Nursing

Skills in Demand

In Austria, where 85% of adults have completed upper secondary education, a good education and skills are needed in order to find a job. Fluency in German is almost a prerequisite for working in the country.  However, English is most often the language used in multinational companies.

Austrian employers are looking for the following soft skills:

  • Strong communication
  • Customer focus
  • Flexibility
  • Stress management
  • Willingness to learn
  • Intercultural skills (for working in international teams)
  • Excellent command of English and other languages

Companies Hiring

Austria has nine companies listed on the annual Forbes Global 2000 listing of the world’s 2,000 largest publicly listed corporations. These are:

  • Erste Group Bank
  • OMV Group (energy supply)
  • Raiffeisen Bank International
  • Vienna Insurance Group
  • Voestalpine (iron and steel)
  • Uniqa (diversified insurance)
  • Strabag (construction)
  • Verbund (electric utilities)
  • Bawag Group

Some other major local companies:

  1. Rewe International (retail)
  2. Spar Österreich Group (retail)
  3. ÖBB Holding (transport)
  4. Porsche Holding GmbH (automotive trade)
  5. Swarovski Gruppe (lead glass producer)
  6. Wiener Krankenanstaltenverbund (health care)
  7. Novomatic (gaming, gambling technology)

Source: European Commission

Salaries

Austria does not have a national minimum wage; rather, collective agreements stipulate minimum wages by sector. The household disposable income per capita (i.e. money available to a household after taxes) is 22,940 USD annually, according to global database CEIC.

Workers with the highest education levels usually earn the highest salaries. The Austrian Employment Service has several salary calculators on its website (German) that allow jobseekers to compare salaries for thousands of professional and technical occupations.

Conclusion

Though the global economy is experiencing a slowdown, there are still talent shortages across multiple job sectors throughout Austria. This means hiring, for now, is ongoing, as the country works to fill the needed positions to keep the current economy moving forward.

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