Industrial crisis in Austria: Focus on closings and job losses

Industrial crisis in Austria: Focus on closings and job losses

The Austrian industry is in a serious crisis that lasts for the third year. Current developments, such as the closure of the Schaeffler plant in Berndorf and the upcoming closure of Siemens' work for industrial power supply in Vienna until the end of 2026, further heat the concerns about the business location.

With over 178 employees who are now facing career, the closure of Siemens is an alarming sign. The pressure on suppliers is growing, especially in the key industry and mechanical engineering.

challenges for industry

The causes of these misery are versatile and partly homemade. A central factor has been the strong wage costs in Austria, which have risen by 30.2 percent since 2021, while in Germany they only increased by 14.3 percent and only 7.1 percent in Italy. This development means that the competitiveness of the location suffers.

fiscal council president Christoph Badelt describes the situation as a “structural crisis”. According to WiFo boss Gabriel Felbermayr, companies have to face a "rendezvous with reality" that goes beyond the acute crisis. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, but has been losing international competitiveness since 2010, especially since 2019.

long -term strategies

In addition, a long -term package is required that is geared towards digitization and artificial intelligence to reduce bureaucracy. A high -ranking manager summed it up: "The others do the business, we fill out lists."

The challenges for the export, which the Austrian market is considerable, are also enormous. Economists warn that an escalation of the trade conflict under the former US President Donald Trump could have serious consequences for export countries such as Germany and Austria. Christian Helmenstein from the industrial association explains that Austria has praised the market and that technologically lies behind countries such as China, which results in the loss of market shares. The global growth trend of three percent is not sufficiently used in the country.

With an industrial share of 19 percent, Austria is particularly susceptible to international demand for demand. In the past two decades, industrial production has increased by 78 percent, but two thirds of the profits were released to shareholders instead of building up reserves for difficult times. Now it shows how important it would have been to form reserves in order to be able to better master the current challenges.

The situation remains tense, and many questions about the future of domestic industry are still unanswered, as Kurier.at reports.