Current skilled labor needs of 177,000 people, in 2019 it was 207,000. For ist Kopf, however, it is a “clear warning sign” that there is a shortage of skilled workers even with high unemployment.
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The corona crisis has caused domestic companies to have a somewhat lower demand for skilled workers. The Institute for Educational Research in the Economy (ibw) estimates the need for skilled workers in Austria at 177,000 people. In view of the current corona pandemic, this is “a very high value,” the scientists concluded. Last year there was a shortage of 207,000 qualified employees.
For the “WKO Skilled Workers Radar 2020”, the institute surveyed a total of 4,431 companies across Austria. 62 percent of the companies feel a strong or very strong shortage of skilled workers. In 2019, this value was 74 percent. 58.6 percent of the companies currently have vacancies for skilled workers, compared with 65.5 percent in the previous year.
Negative effects on domestic economy
The shortage of skilled workers has a negative impact on the domestic economy. 46 percent of the companies surveyed restricted their innovation activities due to the shortage of skilled workers. 61 percent said that they had lost sales due to the shortage of skilled workers.
According to the survey by the Institute for Educational Research in Business, the shortage of skilled workers is greatest in the field of craft and technology. 47 percent of the skilled workers sought are in skilled trades, followed by technicians with more than 21 percent.
The Chamber of Commerce warns against taking the shortage of skilled workers lightly. “We have to act now, because there is also a day after the Corona crisis,” said WKÖ General Secretary Karlheinz Kopf. “When the demographic development then takes off, the shortage of skilled workers increases even more drastically.”
“Clear warning sign”
For ist Kopf it is a “clear warning sign” that there is a great shortage of skilled workers even with high unemployment. More than 472,000 people are currently registered with the Public Employment Service (AMS) as unemployed or in training and almost 366,600 employees are on short-time work. “With the right measures in the field of education and training as well as in the field of mobility, it must be possible to recruit specialists from this pool,” said Kopf. Among other things, one must strengthen the supraregional mediation.
