Fight for every job

The rule for companies now is: Keep those who can be kept

Steyr Automotive recently registered around 200 employees with the AMS early warning system.

(Bild: Steyr Automotive/Schlemmer)

The number of unemployed people in Upper Austria rose by almost 3,000 in the space of a month - despite the increase, it is clear how hard companies are continuing to fight against the crisis. The motto is to keep those who can be kept. A measure to be prepared for the next upswing. 

Exactly 49,540 people started a new job in the first half of the year, which was 932 more than between January and June 2023 - that is one of the figures Iris Schmidt uses to underline the fact that the situation on the labor market in Upper Austria is difficult, but not hopeless. "Despite the economic tensions, the overall employment figures are at a very high level," says the head of AMS Upper Austria.

It is logical that a countermovement comes after an economic peak. However, there are the first silver linings on the horizon here and there.

Markus Achleitner, Wirtschafts-Landesrat Oberösterreich

What were the figures for July in Upper Austria? 33,531 people were without a job, but at the same time there were 22,086 vacancies. Strikingly, the number of jobseekers rose by almost 3,000 people from the end of June to the end of July alone. Nevertheless, it seems that the enormous cutbacks of recent weeks have not yet left their mark.

At Pöttinger, 200 workers will be temporarily registered with the AMS in the summer - with a re-employment guarantee.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

Or is that still to come? Fronius has announced that it will be laying off a further 450 employees, Steyr Automotive has registered 200 employees with the AMS early warning system for redundancy, Hammerer Aluminum Industries and KTM have also had to let many employees go, as well as insolvencies in the retail sector, such as Esprit, which have resulted in store closures.

Despite thinning order books, companies are trying to keep as many employees as possible: "Because they know that they will hardly get them when the next upturn comes," says Markus Achleitner, Provincial Councillor for Economic Affairs.