The development on the labor market in Upper Austria is now comparable to the level of 2019: Employment is already above the pre-crisis level. The unemployment rate is currently 4.3 percent – instead of 4.0 percent as four years ago.
In a two-year comparison, however, the figures show two striking differences: The number of vacancies is currently almost 30 percent higher than in June 2019 and, at almost 30,000, almost reached the absolute level of unemployed (30,665).
The second difference concerns the long-term unemployed: this figure is more than 12,000, half that two years ago (8,000). Nevertheless, when compared to the rest of the country, Upper Austria is represented below average with 138,000. 50,000 long-term unemployed are to find a job again by the end of 2022 with the help of wage subsidies and non-profit leasing, according to Labor Minister Martin Kocher.
As reported, the demand for labor is higher than the supply, especially in industry and production. This is confirmed by Iris Schmidt, deputy regional manager at AMS Upper Austria. The representatives of trade and commerce pointed out yesterday (see also page 10) that almost every second company in the sector is looking for skilled workers and not finding them.
Throughout Austria 109,000 vacancies are registered at the offices of the Public Employment Service (AMS). This is a record for the AMS – with 360,000 unemployed or training participants. Nationwide, the comparative figure from two years ago is 324,000. Employment levels of 2019 have now been reached across the country.
At the end of June, around 296,000 people were still registered for phase four of short-time work, the actual number of short-time workers will be significantly lower due to the openings. According to the Ministry of Labor, the first provisional number of accounts for June can only be estimated in August.
Fifth phase for short-time work
Since yesterday there are two different Corona short-time working models. On the one hand there is an unchanged variant for particularly affected companies and on the other hand a transitional model with a reduced level of funding. Companies can apply for the Corona short-time working phase 5 from the AMS from mid-July.
The AMS yesterday published an estimate of the effect of short-time working: Since March 2020, 1.28 million employees (44 percent women and 56 percent men) have received Corona short-time work allowance. According to the AMS, an average of 245,000 jobs were “saved” from March 2020 to March 2021 by maintaining jobs by redistributing working hours in the company.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
