The number of jobs in Austria is increasing much faster than the number of hours worked. This is one of the core statements of an analysis by UniCredit Bank Austria that was published yesterday.
According to this, the volume of working hours has increased by only 18 percent since 1995. During the same period, the number of jobs increased by 35 percent. According to Bank Austria economist Walter Pudschedl, the divergence between the two time series has even increased since the pandemic: “The number of jobs is currently 2.5 percent higher than in 2019, while the volume of working hours has decreased slightly.”
Since 1995, the weekly working time per job has decreased from around 32 to 27 hours and the pace is accelerating. The average weekly working time is currently almost an hour lower than before Corona. According to Pudschedl, the labor shortage complained about by the companies can also be explained by a lack of working hours made available. However, the declining working hours per employment relationship are offset by a significant increase in productivity. Since 1995, an employee has become about a third more productive on average. The gross value added per hour worked doubled from almost 30 to more than 60 euros. There were above-average advances in productivity in industry and in the provision of financial and insurance services.
Productivity increased significantly
The increase in productivity and the increase in employees are the reason why the gross value added has increased by almost 60 percent since 1995.
The number of employees is currently at a record high: more than 4.2 million people are employed. Nevertheless, companies complain that there is hardly any offer on the labor market. More than 100,000 positions cannot be filled. According to Stefan Bruckbauer, chief economist at Bank Austria, Austria is facing a major challenge: a further reduction in the average working time is to be expected.
Source: Nachrichten
