In all likelihood, the corona pandemic is not over yet, and there might be a déjà vu by autumn at the latest. At the same time, the Ukraine war is repeatedly causing economic shock waves around the world. Against this background, the challenges for Austria as a business location might not be greater – with the main concern currently being the security of the energy supply. According to a recent survey of 230 Austrian top managers by the consulting firm Deloitte, 90 percent fear adverse consequences from the war.
But also for the supply chains, the availability of raw materials and the transport costs are to be expected with “serious effects” due to the war, it was said on Thursday at the presentation of the “Deloitte Radar”, in the context of which the attractiveness and competitiveness of Austria as a business location is scrutinized every year be taken.
In any case, the mood in the companies has recently deteriorated significantly. While this was still positive for 86 percent of the managers surveyed last summer, only 52 percent now share this opinion. A fifth even rated the mood as (very) negative. According to the Deloitte study, a similarly pessimistic picture can be seen in the workforce as well as among customers and suppliers.
“Concern has increased noticeably in companies since the beginning of the war,” said Harald Breit, head of Deloitte Austria. “We run the risk of this pessimism becoming entrenched and becoming a downward spiral. Countermeasures must be taken as quickly as possible.” The location is currently proving to be resilient. Nevertheless, there is an “urgent need for action to strengthen it in the long term,” said Breit, referring to a number of wishes from the top managers surveyed. Specifically, in addition to the rapid conversion of the energy system towards renewable energies (92 percent) and the digitization of administration (85 percent) and the health sector (87 percent), the reduction in non-wage labor costs (87 percent) and income taxes (78 percent) as well increased research funding, especially in the field of environmental technology (87 percent).
Hardly any skilled workers available
Making the labor market more flexible (80 percent) is also high on the wish list of those surveyed. For only 16 percent, its current flexibility, the flexible organization of working hours and location, is “good” or “very good”. 69 percent rated the availability of skilled workers as “sufficient” or “insufficient”, only 3 percent as “good”.
However, there is agreement on the topic of integrating refugees: “Almost all the companies surveyed are calling for greater efforts and simplifications here,” reported Elisa Aichinger, partner at Deloitte Austria. There is also a good chance of cushioning the shortage of skilled workers here.
When it comes to the much-vaunted quality of life, Austria has also suffered losses. A comparison of the survey results before the pandemic with the current one shows that satisfaction with the health system and social cohesion has both fallen by 20 percentage points in the past two years. “This decline is an alarm signal,” emphasized Aichinger.
Deloitte Austria CEO Breit sees the federal government on the train: “Now leadership is required.” As a business location, Austria is only in the middle, in international rankings the country has only ranked 15 to 20 for years. In the most important ranking, the “World Competitiveness Index”, Austria is 19th globally and 11th in Europe In Europe, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark occupy the top three places. They score with comprehensive digitization and a lower tax burden for companies. (key)