Crisis mood in retail: Salaries are rising despite massive challenges!

Crisis mood in retail: Salaries are rising despite massive challenges!

Austrian retail is facing enormous challenges. According to the trade association, a dramatic 3.9 percent decline in spending is expected in 2023, plunging the industry into an existential crisis. The reasons for this are manifold: rising costs of living, inflation that is depressing purchasing power, and a significant shift in consumer thinking away from brick-and-mortar retail towards services and leisure activities. Rainer Will, managing director of the trade association, emphasizes that many Austrians are forced to reduce their spending due to high electricity and rental prices. This is proven by the current study “Austria's trade in numbers”, which also predicts a decline of 9.3 percent in online trading Handelsverband.at reported.

In the midst of this precarious situation, the round of negotiations on the collective agreement regulation took place on December 3, 2024. A salary increase of 3.3 percent was set for 2025. Furthermore, the apprentice salary in the first year of training will be increased from 880 to 1,000 euros. These salary adjustments were seen as an important signal of appreciation in a challenging economic situation. Rainer Will also said that today's agreement offers both employees and employers the ability to plan - an important step in these unstable times. The negotiations formed the basis for starting reforms in the framework law and working towards securing the numerous jobs in trade ots.at noted.

Planned strikes on the second Sunday of Advent were averted, which is seen as a positive step. However, the question remains as to how retail will survive in the face of rising costs and declining sales. The industry is demanding immediate support from the government to save the thousands of businesses at risk of closure. Initiatives such as the abolition of the so-called “cold progression” and the rapid payment of outstanding corona compensation are on the agenda, but according to the trade association, these measures alone are not sufficient to prevent the economic conflagration.