Due to shortage of skilled workers

Wirtschaftsbund wants more workers from the Balkans

Wirtschaftsbund Secretary General Kurt Egger: "Through the targeted immigration of qualified workers, we not only create more economic stability, but also attractive job opportunities that our companies urgently need."(Bild: © Philipp Lipiarski / www.lipiarski.com)

Due to the worsening shortage of skilled workers, Kurt Egger, Secretary General of the Wirtschaftsbund, is now campaigning for free access to the labor market for residents of EU accession countries from the Balkans. On Thursday, he will submit a corresponding motion to the Economic Parliament.

According to the Wirtschaftsbund, the demand for employees already regularly exceeds the supply, which is why the legal framework conditions need to be further optimized. Although the Red-White-Red Card is a good instrument for the targeted recruitment of skilled workers, international competition for the best brains is already in full swing. Austria must therefore be an attractive destination for labor migration, according to the Wirtschaftsbund.

Austria should therefore allow free access to the labor market for people from EU accession countries in the Balkan region. This would allow immigration from these countries unbureaucratically and independently of quotas. This would make the Austrian labor market more attractive for workers and companies would be able to obtain urgently needed personnel quickly and easily.

In tourism and gastronomy, cooks and waiters are desperately needed.(Bild: Land schafft Leben )

Wirtschaftsbund Secretary General Kurt Egger: "Free access to the labor market for EU accession countries from the Balkans is a decisive step towards solving the acute labor shortage in Austria. The tourism sector in particular, which suffers greatly from the lack of qualified workers, should benefit from this step. Through the targeted immigration of qualified workers, we are not only creating more economic stability, but also attractive job opportunities that our companies urgently need."

Three of the top five immigration countries are in the Balkans
The EU also recently decided to provide more financial support to countries in the Western Balkans as they move closer to the Union. Furthermore, three of the top five immigration countries in Austria are already in the Balkan region, according to the Wirtschaftsbund. Bosnians, for example, are the most frequent users of the Red-White-Red Card.

Germany is increasing the Western Balkans contingent to 50,000 people
In Germany, where skilled workers are also urgently needed, there is already the so-called Western Balkans quota, which enables the influx of workers when a job is offered. The Western Balkans regulation provides access to the labor market for nationals from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. According to the Wirtschaftsbund, this regulation is used intensively by employers in Germany, which is why the original time limit for the Western Balkans quota was lifted in June 2024 and the quota was even increased from 25,000 to 50,000 people per year.

However, the Wirtschaftsbund is not calling for a quota for Austria, but rather access to the domestic labor market as part of a simplified Red-White-Red Card procedure. On Thursday, it is calling on the Economic Chamber in the Economic Parliament to lobby the relevant political bodies to simplify qualified immigration from third countries, particularly from the Balkans.