Labor Minister Christine Aschbacher and Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler announced new information on the labor market and climate protection.
The corona crisis still has a firm grip on the labor market. “Health development has top priority,” emphasized Minister of Labor Aschbacher. Around 449,000 people are currently looking for work, 5,300 more than in the previous week. Around 219,000 people are on short-time work; there was an intense increase in the second lockdown. Aschbacher is expecting further growth here.
448,792 people are looking for a job in Austria, 382,135 of them unemployed and 66,657 in training. That is around 88,000 people more than in the previous year. There are 218,871 people in Corona short-time work, with 26,000 applications so far submitted in the third phase of short-time work, which began in October, as Aschbacher explained.
Since the outbreak of the corona pandemic, 5.2 billion euros have been paid out for short-time working and 8.2 billion euros approved. Austria is also “prepared for various scenarios for the coming years” for an impending wave of insolvencies.
A job campaign in the area of climate protection was also presented. In cooperation with the AMS, a focus was placed on photovoltaics and e-mobility in some federal states. In addition, there should be training focuses in retail and in individual skilled worker training. “We all feel the effects of the Corona crisis every day, and the effects on the economy are far-reaching. Many Austrians are worried about their future. It is our job to give people a perspective. And climate protection creates jobs,” emphasized Leonore Gewessler.
It is about securing 100,000 green jobs. Gewessler spoke particularly to plumbers and electricians for eco-jobs. People who are looking for a job should be supported with the initiative. The turnover in the sector of the environmental economy amounted to 36.9 billion euros in 2018. “This area will grow significantly in the next few years,” said the Climate Protection Minister. The short training for the photovoltaic industry has already been initiated.
“The situation on the job market is serious, we are in close contact with economic researchers. Now it is a matter of containing the virus,” explained Aschbacher.
Regarding the ski ban from Italy, the labor minister said: “We are proud that our winter tourism is so strong. But this year is an exceptional year. We are doing everything we can to contain the spread so that our health system is not overloaded. It is important to us to make everything possible for winter tourism to take place. “
