The Ministry of Labor announced on Tuesday that 440,384 people are currently on short-time work, 25,611 more than in the previous week. There are currently over half a million people without a job, specifically 533,512 people. This is an increase of 761 compared to the previous week. The tourism sector is particularly hard hit. Around 73,000 people are currently unemployed there.
“The lack of a season start is particularly noticeable in tourism,” said Labor Minister Martin Kocher on Tuesday at a press conference with Tourism Minister Elisabeth Köstinger (both ÖVP). Tourism accounts for around a third of the unemployed due to the crisis, and the number of unemployed in this sector has increased by around 40,000 compared to the previous year.
A total of 533,512 people are currently registered with the Public Employment Service (AMS), 65,493 of whom are training. Compared to the previous year, this means an increase of 112,596. Around 16 percent of the unemployed were previously employed in tourism. “That is very high,” said Labor Minister Kocher at the press conference. The current unemployment figures are lower than at the peak in April 2020, but still “historically high”. He expects “stagnation, maybe a slight increase” in the next few weeks. The reduction in unemployment is only possible if the first steps are taken.
So far, around 5.7 billion euros for Corona short-time work have been paid out by the Public Employment Service (AMS), and 4.3 billion euros have been approved for phase 3. The third phase of short-time work will run until the end of March. This evening, Kocher is meeting with the social partners to discuss the continuation and extension of the short-time work as well as restructuring. In the run-up to the social partner talks, the Minister of Labor did not want to comment on exactly how the Corona short-time work should be reformed.
For Tourism Minister Köstinger, the labor market in the tourism sector must be “set up as best as possible” for the time after the lockdown and the corona pandemic. It is important to train and develop skilled workers and to keep well-qualified employees in the hotel and catering industry. “Very many have left the industry,” said Köstinger. Instruments must be worked out and incentives offered to encourage the workforce to return to tourism. The tourism minister also sees a need for action in apprenticeships. Last year around a fifth fewer apprentices were hired in tourism.
The ÖGB warned in a broadcast on Tuesday of the sharp rise in unemployment among women. “When it comes to women's unemployment, the word 'worrying' is an auxiliary expression,” said ÖGB Vice-President and Chairwoman Korinna Schumann. The situation in the western tourist regions is devastating. “Because a particularly large number of women are employed in tourism, the situation there is dramatic.”
