For example, waitresses and restaurant trades are included in the nationwide list of job shortages, which previously only included cooks as tourist trades. Being on the list of shortage occupations means that companies can fall back on foreign workers (outside the EU) to fill vacancies via the Red-White-Red Card for 24 months – and do not primarily have to take job seekers who are registered with the AMS. There are reliefs for the red-white-red card.
This requires completed vocational training in a shortage occupation, a binding job offer in Austria and the willingness of the employing company to pay the minimum wage due by law, regulation or collective agreement.
According to Secretary of State for Tourism Susanne Kraus-Winkler (both ÖVP), a regulation by Labor Minister Martin Kocher should come into force as soon as possible.
Seasonal quota increased from 2000 to 3000. There are currently 2634 vacancies in tourism in Upper Austria. This number is offset by 1765 job seekers in tourism in our state. At the same time, there are 22,136 employees in tourism in Upper Austria, around 1781 more than in June 2021. “These figures show once again that recruiting workers for tourism can no longer only take place domestically,” said Tourism Provincial Councilor Markus Achleitner (ÖVP ).
However, there was harsh criticism from the vida union. The Economics Minister has “still not recognized that working conditions can be improved instead of bringing in workers from abroad who will do anything for little money,” said Berend Tusch, head of the tourism department.
Source: Nachrichten
