960 workers affected

Will Liebherr’s planned short-time working in Lienz fail?

Short-time work or not? Hundreds of employees at the plant in Lienz will have to tremble over the next few days. If the AMS has its way, the project is unlikely to be approved.(Bild: Martin Oberbichler)

East Tyrol's largest employer wants to put well over two thirds of its employees on short-time working for three months. However, this could fail due to the current situation. The trade union is insisting on approval.

The news that Liebherr Hausgeräte GmbH wants to put up to 960 employees on short-time working at its site in Lienz from October to December has caused quite a stir. According to Managing Director Holger König, the reasons for this are quickly explained: "The household appliance industry is still in a difficult market environment."

Demand has "collapsed brutally"
Due to the declining demand situation, the market for refrigerators has "collapsed brutally". This measure was necessary in order to adjust personnel capacities accordingly.

The management is in close contact with the HR department and the works council. Around 1340 people are employed at the East Tyrolean site. More than 70 percent of employees could now be registered with the labor market service as early as next week.

According to current regulations, short-time working can only be granted for exceptional economic situations that are demonstrably temporary. However, we are of course aware of the difficult situation for many companies.

Sabine Platzer-Werlberger, Landesgeschäftsführerin des AMS Tirol

Plan on the brink, clear pro from the trade union 
Whether this will go ahead as planned is questionable. At the request of the "Krone", the AMS confirmed that no more short-time working allowances have been granted since July 2022. Furthermore, Liebherr has not yet submitted a request.

The statement continues: "In view of the current situation and the documents available to date, it is unrealistic to expect short-time working benefits to be approved." A damper on the labor market in the country? Sabine Platzer-Werlberger, Managing Director of AMS Tirol, comments: "According to current regulations, short-time work can only be granted for exceptional economic situations that are demonstrably temporary. But of course we recognize the difficult situation for many companies."

Short-time work must be restructured so that more companies can make use of it again.

Reinhold Binder, Bundesvorsitzender der Produktionsgewerkschaft (PRO-GE)

Trade union insists on approval
Reinhold Binder, Federal Chairman of the Production Union (PRO-GE), is clearly in favor of this and appeals to Federal Minister Martin Kocher: "Short-time work must be restructured in such a way that more companies can make use of it again."

Liebherr itself expects the situation to ease at the beginning of 2025. A new production line will then start up. The company therefore does not want to lose its employees. The company also intends to stick to its expansion plans in Lienz: A new warehouse and an additional administration building were only opened in September 2023.