At the end of April, 327,308 people were unemployed or in training. 254,755 were looking for a job, and another 72,553 were in training courses at the Public Employment Service (AMS). The jobless rate was 6.1 percent, the lowest April jobless rate since 2008. However, there has been a slight week-on-week increase in jobless numbers.
For Labor Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP), the situation on the labor market is “still good”. The unemployment figures were the lowest since the end of April since 2012. “Looking back at the month, it can be seen that the war in Ukraine and the economic sanctions against Russia that have become necessary as a result have so far slowed down the positive momentum overall only slightly,” said Kocher on Monday morning at the presentation of the labor market figures in Vienna.
At the end of April, 128,777 vacancies were reported as immediately available at the AMS. This corresponds to an increase of 59 percent compared to the same month last year. Combating the shortage of skilled workers is a high priority for Kocher. Among other things, he referred to the expansion of qualification measures and the reform of the red-white-red card.
“Noticeable increase” in pre-registrations for short-time work
According to the Ministry of Labour, however, there was a “noticeable increase” in advance notifications for short-time work during April. At the end of the month, 52,588 people were pre-registered for short-time work. The delivery bottlenecks and the Ukraine war are currently only having a “very limited” effect on short-time work, according to Kocher. The current short-time work model runs until the end of June. There are currently negotiations between the government and social partners about a new short-time work variant. “There will be a successor model,” emphasized the Minister of Labor. However, there will be changes because short-time work is not intended for companies with “structural difficulties”.
Kocher expects “a low five-digit number” of Ukrainian refugees on the Austrian labor market by the fall. It is currently not possible to estimate whether it will be 15,000 to 20,000 or more. A total of 1,797 Ukrainians have received a work permit so far, of which 1,417 were granted to women and 380 to men. Most work permits were in Upper Austria (418) and Lower Austria (363). In addition, 3,644 displaced persons from Ukraine are currently registered with the AMS.
Source: Nachrichten
