Business
Power technicians, cooks, crane operators and social workers are just a few of the jobs that make up the list of official shortages updated by the Department of Labour. There are now 100 shortage occupations across Austria. There are also twelve regional shortage occupations in Vorarlberg.
The sectors that are on the new list of shortage occupations can recruit skilled workers abroad more easily than other sectors. A year ago there were still 68 professions on the Austria-wide list, now there are already 100. For Vorarlberg’s AMS boss Bernhard Bereuter, the increase is no surprise: “It has become apparent. We had a very good job market this year, the companies had a very high need for staff and that means that only a few people apply for a vacancy,” says Bereuter.
Host tissue severely affected
If there are fewer than one and a half applicants for a position registered with the AMS, the occupation is considered a shortage occupation. This is particularly evident in gastronomy. At the end of October, 546 vacancies were reported to the AMS – 171 of them waiters and 144 cooks in restaurants. On the other hand, there were 516 registered unemployed for these occupations. Of these, half had at most a compulsory school leaving certificate. A third wanted a part-time job and a quarter had health problems.
Easier recruitment from abroad
Employees in shortage occupations can be recruited from abroad much more easily using the Red-White-Red Card. Although that is not easy either, says Bereuter. “Recruiting from abroad is often difficult, there are many regions in Europe that are in competition with the Vorarlberg labor market, so to speak,” says Bereuter.
By the end of October, almost 2,000 red-white-red cards for shortage occupations had been issued throughout Austria. In the same period a year ago, it was only half as much.