AMS notes

Crisis remains a foreign word for some companies

Iris Schmidt is Managing Director of the Public Employment Service Upper Austria.(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

More unemployed, fewer vacancies - the stuttering economic engine is also leaving its mark on the Upper Austrian labor market. However, companies are suffering to varying degrees. For some companies, the crisis remains a foreign word.

Fronius let go of 350 employees in its solar division based in Sattledt, hundreds of employees had to leave the Mattighofen-based motorcycle manufacturer KTM, agricultural machinery specialist Pöttinger, based in Grieskirchen, will register 200 production employees with the employment service in July and August with a re-employment guarantee for a few weeks...

The stagnating overall economic development continues. Based on the latest forecasts from WIFO and IHS, we do not see any significant positive change in the industrial state of Upper Austria for 2024.

Iris Schmidt, Geschäftsführerin des AMS OÖ

All of these cuts are symptoms of a more difficult environment: inhibited consumer sentiment, increased costs and many investments that are being postponed are a huge challenge for domestic companies. A look at the figures confirms this: the number of jobseekers rose by 5,352 people from June 2023 to June 2024 - an increase of 21.2 percent.

The number of vacancies is declining, unemployment is rising.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Adobe Stock)

"However, it is clear that companies have been affected to varying degrees by the economic conditions," says AMS Upper Austria boss Iris Schmidt. This is also evident in terms of the staffing situation: while some are pushing for internal short-time working, reducing vacations and overtime in order to retain as many employees as possible, others are thinking about adding to their workforce.

"The healthcare and education sectors are in high demand," says Schmidt. The number of vacancies is declining: last month, 22,635 jobs were still registered with the AMS Upper Austria.