From job cuts to shortages: Upper Austria will be short of 150,000 skilled workers by 2040

The news from the Upper Austrian labor market is currently often negative: Due to the weak economy, companies such as Fronius or Hammerer Aluminium from Braunau are cutting jobs. In some cases, hundreds of employees have had to leave the companies, OÖNachrichten has reported.

• Read here: “Everything is weakening”: Hammerer Aluminium cuts 250 jobs this year

However, rising unemployment (the rate in Upper Austria is currently 4.2 percent) will not be the biggest challenge for the domestic economy in the view of State Minister for Economic Affairs Markus Achleitner (VP). “Unemployed people are returning to the job market quickly, and companies’ needs are great,” he said. He therefore rejected calls for state short-time work for the time being.

There is an urgent need for action on the issue of the shortage of skilled workers, as the updated skilled worker monitor, which was created on behalf of the state of Upper Austria, shows. Taking into account data from Statistics Austria, economic forecasts and job advertisements, the German institute WiFOR has calculated the development for Upper Austria.

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