More unemployed

Job guarantee gone down the drain: dispute over question of guilt

More and more people are now finding it increasingly difficult to find a job.(Bild: Vic Labadie)

The queues of people at the advice desks of the Public Employment Service (AMS) are getting longer again. This also breaks the positive trend in the fight against long-term unemployment in Lower Austria. This immediately causes a dispute between the SPÖ and ÖVP. 

The current labor market balance shows that the economic engine is not really starting up in Lower Austria either. As reported, unemployment is rising in all sectors. The only ray of hope is also darkening: long-term unemployment - which has fallen for 30 months in a row - is on the rise again.

Job guarantee as a showcase model
And this is causing discord in state politics. No wonder, as the job guarantee project in Marienthal in the district of Bruck an der Leitha was considered a matter close to the heart of former AMS and current SPÖ leader Sven Hergovich. The measures have succeeded in completely eliminating long-term unemployment in the town. "The ÖVP and FPÖ have shut down this award-winning showcase model purely for party political reasons," rages Hergovich.

Only used 83 times
However, the ÖVP does not want to be blamed for the end: "The project was 100 percent financed by the AMS. It was therefore not at the discretion of the state to continue it," they say. In addition, the job guarantee in Marienthal was only used in 83 cases. The long-term unemployed are also now the focus of the AMS: "31 employment projects are currently running in Lower Austria for this group."