Interview with WK boss

“Even the pub around the corner will miss the workers”

Andreas Wirth took over as President of the Chamber of Commerce almost a year ago.

(Bild: Reinhard Judt)

Steinbrunn entrepreneur Andreas Wirth has been President of the Chamber of Commerce for almost a year. What he thinks about the state minimum wage and why he is worried about young people.

"Krone": Mr. President, you said when you took office that you wanted to keep your ear to the ground with companies. What have entrepreneurs told you over the past few months?

I travel around the country every day and meet many entrepreneurs who are motivated and competent and want to make a difference. Many of them are currently facing difficult conditions, especially in the construction industry. There is a lack of orders and investors are unsettled by rising interest rates, while energy and material prices as well as wage and non-wage labor costs have also risen massively.

Is it just the construction industry?

No, but construction is an industry that has a massive impact on others. If there is no construction, then there is no need for plumbers or electricians, painters, curtains or furniture. Even the pub or the grocery store around the corner won't have the workers who don't come to eat or get a snack.

What can be done about this?

I believe the public sector has a responsibility to provide an additional boost - after all, it's about creating value for everyone. That's why construction projects that are already planned need to be put on track even faster. The economy now needs orders from the public sector and from the housing cooperatives, which have been the driving force behind Burgenland's craft businesses for decades.

On taking office, the new WK boss promised to keep his ear close to the ground. "I travel around the state every day and meet many entrepreneurs," says Wirth.

(Bild: WK Bgld.)

Skills shortage: how great is the need?

The paradox at the moment is that the lack of orders has actually eased the labor shortage somewhat. Nevertheless, capable hands are always welcome in all sectors. In some areas - such as care - employees are still desperately needed. What really worries me is the issue of motivation. The Styrian Chamber of Commerce recently published a study in which 87% of respondents agreed that "performance is the basis of our social prosperity". It is an alarming sign that only just under two thirds of 18 to 25-year-olds agree with this statement. Among the older generation - 61 years and older - the figure is almost all at 96 percent. We therefore urgently need to change the image of performance.

Don't young people want to work these days?

No, I meet young people in the workplace every day. But for me, the study is proof that many no longer believe that they can achieve prosperity through their performance. We need to shake off this pessimism and replace it with confidence. This requires reforms to the framework conditions. The current situation does not offer any interesting incentives for working more; performance must "pay off" again in the truest sense of the word.

What exactly do you have in mind?

Society must feel that performance is worthwhile. Those who work harder must feel it clearly in their pockets. On the one hand, taxes on labor and, on the other, non-wage labor costs must be noticeably reduced. In Austria, the tax burden on labor is currently 47.9 percent at full employment. This means that an employer pays an employee 2000 euros, but after deductions the employee only receives 1042 euros. This is an enormous burden for employers and demotivating for employees.

But you could also pay more. The province of Burgenland is showing the way with its minimum wage.

I take a very critical view of the minimum wage, and I have discussed this personally with Governor Hans Peter Doskozil on several occasions. In contrast to politics, private companies have to earn the money that they can then spend themselves. This also applies to wages and salaries. Every entrepreneur would like to pay more if the opportunity arose - one way to do this would be to reduce the taxes on labor.

The country's minimum wage is a constant source of debate.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

The country is criticized for competing with the private sector.

I believe that publicly financed and supported competition against the private sector in one's own country is not beneficial, as the distortion of competition is always at the expense of one side. And in this case, that side is the one that shapes prosperity in our country. The country, politics and business must therefore work even more closely together; in some areas this is already happening, in others we are working on it. It is unacceptable for private entrepreneurs to be faced with closure because state-owned companies are taking away the business they have built up over decades.

Back to the subject of skilled workers. There is a lot of advertising for apprenticeships, is this bearing fruit?

Especially around the end of school, you often hear parents saying that their child is "only" doing an apprenticeship. Yet there are currently great prospects for apprentices in a wide variety of professions, and some trades are real industries of the future with great career and earning prospects. Every young person who completes an apprenticeship will find a job worldwide - Austria's unique and high-quality apprenticeship training also contributes to this. The "only" in front of the word "apprenticeship" is actually out of place and most likely a relic from days gone by.