“The most important issue for the economy next to Corona is the shortage of skilled workers,” said Doris Hummer, President of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce, today, Monday, at a virtual press conference in Linz: 80 percent of the company is affected. You have no more time. The Chamber of Commerce therefore presented yesterday a new labor market policy instrument to reduce the number of long-term unemployed:
There are currently around 40,000 unemployed in Upper Austria, around a third of them with health-related placement restrictions, calculated Hummer and Leo Zauner, a consultant in the department of social and legal policy: Currently there are only the two options “able to work” or “unable to work”. . Part-time reintegration is intended for people who have been registered as unemployed for at least three months and who have health problems and are therefore unable to take on a full-time job. After an evaluation and a trial, they are to be gradually reintegrated into the first job market over a maximum period of 24 months: Zauner emphasized the advantages for both sides. The employer gets an additional worker, the employee also receives the reintegration unemployment benefit from the AMS in addition to his wages. If it is possible to reintegrate at least 5,000 unemployed people with health-related placement restrictions into the primary labor market in the form of part-time employment (20 hours a week), an additional workforce potential of 2,500 full-time equivalent jobs could be developed in Upper Austria, Zauner calculated.
Reform of the Red-White-Red Card
On Monday, Hummer also called for the red-white-red card to be reformed as quickly as possible: the current minimum salary for applicants must be lowered, and apprentices over the age of 18 need a residence permit quickly: after completing their apprenticeship, they should switch to a red-white-red card may be possible. The application process must be digitized and it must also be possible to submit an application in Austria.
In addition to the unemployed, Hummer again named women, older people and migrants as population groups in which there is still potential for the search for workers: Up to 24,000 jobs could be filled in the medium term if these four adjustment screws were turned.
Source: Nachrichten
