Global ranking

Most popular places to work: Austria in 11th place

Austria is in high demand among international job seekers.(Bild: Karl-Hendrik Tittel, stock.adobe.com)

Austria is in high demand among international job seekers due to its high quality of life and quality of work opportunities. Out of 185 countries, Austria is the eleventh most popular place to work worldwide.

In terms of cities, the federal capital Vienna has fallen to 23rd place in terms of popularity among international job seekers. In 2020, Vienna took 22nd place in the city ranking, compared to 13th place in 2018. In total, more than 150,000 employees were surveyed for the "Decoding Global Talent" study, including 1,700 in Austria.

Visas and work permits as stumbling blocks
However, there is room for improvement when it comes to visas and work permits. Companies should provide proactive support with bureaucratic hurdles. With its high quality of life, Austria holds a trump card in the global competition for the brightest minds. 

Ranking of the most popular work locations

• Top COUNTRIES: Australia, USA, Canada
• Top CITIES: London, Amsterdam, Dubai
• Vienna is in 23rd place compared to other cities

Eleven percent are looking for a job outside Austria
However, respondents in Austria are significantly less willing to leave the country for a job, according to the survey, which was conducted by the consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) together with the job portal Stepstone: Less than half would want to work abroad and only just under eleven percent are currently actively looking for a job outside of Austria.

Hungarians, Bosnians and Slovenians flock to Austria
Austrians are most likely to be drawn to Germany and Switzerland for work, followed by the USA and Italy. In turn, Austria is a particularly attractive country for people from Hungary (36%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (30%), Slovenia (22%), Serbia (20%) and Germany (14%).

However, the proportion of people who would generally be open to moving abroad for a job has decreased to 63%. Before the coronavirus pandemic in 2018, this proportion was 78%.