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Battle for skilled workers: Austria's labor market facing a dilemma!
Dieter Bornemann will present topics on asylum, the labor market and AI competition in the ORF business magazine “Eco” on February 6, 2025.
Battle for skilled workers: Austria's labor market facing a dilemma!
The future of the Austrian labor market is facing a decisive turning point. With the ongoing coalition negotiations between the FPÖ and ÖVP, drastic immigration restrictions could soon come into force. The ORF business magazine “Eco” highlights in an article that the FPÖ plans to significantly restrict immigration from outside the EU. This strategy, also known as “Fortress Austria”, poses significant risks for companies that rely on foreign workers. Who exactly this could affect remains unclear, but there are great fears that there is a threat of a shortage of skilled workers, which could jeopardize the performance of the domestic economy ots.at reported.
Focus on immigration and shortage of skilled workers
FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl has announced that he will solve the urgent shortage of skilled workers through qualified immigration from EU countries. As part of the ORF summer talk, he pointed out that Austria's performance culture needed to be revived in order to attract workers from other EU countries. There are currently around 340,000 people unemployed in Austria, while around 95,000 positions are open, with a shortage of around 200,000 qualified specialists alone. Experts like Helmut Mahringer, labor market researcher at Wifo, emphasize that in addition to higher salaries, housing costs, social networks and working conditions are also important. The shortage of skilled workers is not just a domestic problem, but affects numerous EU states, as the reactions of AMS board member Johannes Kopf to Kickl's suggestions show kleinezeitung.at reported.
Immigration from EU countries is already real, especially from Germany, Hungary and Slovakia. If the government persists with immigration restrictions, this could have far-reaching consequences for skilled workers and companies. The challenge remains to develop a comprehensive strategy for recruiting and integrating these workers in order not to further endanger the Austrian labor market.