From soaring energy prices to climate change: companies have to find solutions to various problems. “But the fundamental question is: Do we have enough well-trained employees for this?” says Valborg Burgholzer-Kaiser. “The fact that we take each other’s employees away cannot be the solution,” says the managing director of the Enns-based gear specialist Eisenbeiss and deputy chairman of the industry division in the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce.
Different approaches are needed to solve the problem: “On the one hand, we have to show what job profiles there are in the industry. Many don’t even know what we do.”
The Industry Division has also started a project with the Education Directorate and the University of Education in which teachers who teach careers orientation can complete practical days in more than 20 industrial companies. This is intended to raise their awareness in order to convey to the students that an apprenticeship in industry is interesting and up-to-date.
On the other hand, there is still great potential in the workforce, especially among women, says Burgholzer-Kaiser. According to Statistics Austria, 84 percent of fathers with children under the age of 15 were employed full-time in 2020. For mothers, it was only 18.8 percent. 49 percent of the women worked part-time, 22.3 percent were not employed.
It also has to be worthwhile
Women need to be encouraged and have more confidence. “And we need other working time models to accommodate women. Companies have to be as flexible as possible here,” says Burgholzer-Kaiser. There is also a need for sufficient childcare facilities. But part-time work must also be worthwhile: “With many women who work part-time and look after their children, there is often not much left over.” (prel)
Source: Nachrichten
