And skilled workers from abroad use this opportunity to work legally in Austria: by the end of October, 1,890 red-white-red cards for shortage occupations were issued this year, more than twice as many as in the same period in 2021 (938). Demand increased, especially in October, after the reform that led to simpler and faster issuing of cards. “This shows that the attractiveness of the red-white-red card is already having an effect,” Labor and Economics Minister Martin Kocher was quoted as saying in the broadcast.
An occupation is considered to be a shortage occupation if fewer than 1.5 jobseekers per position were available. However, professions with special needs can also be included in the list. “With a significant expansion of the list of shortage occupations, we are intensifying our efforts to combat the shortage of workers and skilled workers as best we can,” added Kocher.
Electromechanics, graduate engineers and Co.
According to the ministry, electrical mechanics, graduate engineers for the construction industry and forwarding specialists are new on the federal list for shortage occupations. Accounting, physical-technical special occupations and non-graduate nursing staff also made it onto the list of shortage occupations.
Upper Austria tops the list
Upper Austria tops the list of regional shortage occupations with 44 state-specific occupations, followed by Salzburg (26), Styria (17), Tyrol and Vorarlberg with 12 each and Lower Austria with 7. Vienna has only 2 and Burgenland and Carinthia each just a shortage job.
Source: Nachrichten
