AMS takes countermeasures

Alarming trend: young people increasingly unemployed

43,420 people were out of work in Upper Austria in January 2024. Teenagers and young adults are increasingly affected by unemployment.

(Bild: REUTERS)

Between 19 and 25 years old and unemployed - this fate is increasing in Upper Austria. High demands on companies, which were met for a long time but are now becoming a boomerang in the crisis, and the trend towards job hopping are fueling the situation. The Public Employment Service is alarmed.

Iris Schmidt is alarmed: Of the almost 43,400 people without a job in Upper Austria in January, more than 5,700 were under the age of 25. "The numbers started to rise in the middle of last year," says the head of the Upper Austrian Public Employment Service, "so we reacted in the fall and changed our strategies."

"Many people are now reorienting themselves much more quickly and changing jobs. We want to take measures to prevent job hopping at shorter intervals.

Iris Schmidt, Geschäftsführerin des Arbeitsmarktservice OÖ

"Take a close look"
In February alone, an additional 1,700 career guidance offers will benefit teenagers and young adults in order to get them back into the job market more quickly. For the AMS, this is also the start of an even more intensive search for clues: "We need to take a close look at the causes and what is needed to take countermeasures."

"We have to take a close look at why young people and young adults are increasingly becoming unemployed," says AMS Upper Austria boss Iris Schmidt.

(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

The reasons for the increase in unemployment among young people appear to be complex: on the one hand, in the current crisis situation, companies are quicker to part with employees who had previously made high demands and had them met.

Trend towards job hopping
On the other hand, there is also a trend towards job hopping: "You always hear that companies are desperately looking for staff. Then they spend two, three or four months at a company, take a look at it and then decide to do something else after all". More than 50 percent of young adults who are unemployed also only have a compulsory school leaving certificate. Mental health problems are also on the rise.