According to Statistics Austria’s microcensus labor force survey for 2021, migrants have a much harder time looking for work than Austrians. According to this report, a quarter of foreign-born 15-64 year olds have faced obstacles in finding a suitable job and about eight percent of foreign-born workers feel discriminated against in their current job.
For 43.6 percent of those born abroad, insufficient knowledge of German was the main obstacle when looking for work. Another 16.8 percent could not find a job that matches their education.
Foreign educational qualifications are often not recognised
For 15.2 percent, the lack of recognition of their foreign educational qualifications is the main obstacle when looking for work. 8.9 percent of migrants with work experience in Austria cited the lack of a work permit as the main obstacle and almost as many (8 percent) mentioned their foreign origin.
Nearly three-quarters (73.0 percent) of foreign-born persons aged 15 to 64 had completed their highest level of education abroad, mostly in their country of origin. Only 13.3 percent applied for recognition or evaluation of their formal qualifications acquired abroad in Austria: according to Statistics Austria, more than a tenth (10.6 percent) of migrants with foreign educational qualifications have already had them recognized in Austria, but 86 .7 percent of migrants were not eligible.
One fifth has German as their mother tongue
About a fifth (18.9 percent) of migrants aged between 15 and 64 have German as their first language and 2.6 percent cite another mother tongue besides German. According to our own estimates, more than a third of immigrants (35.5 percent) speak the German language fluently and a quarter (24.4 percent) at an advanced level. But 15.7 percent said they only have basic knowledge. And another 5.5 percent would have rated their knowledge of German as very little or not at all.
Eight percent feel discriminated against
About 8 percent of labor migrants felt discriminated against in their current job, women slightly more often (8.9 percent) than men (8.0 percent). The main reason for discrimination cited by 78.4 percent of migrants affected by discrimination was their foreign origin; for men, this share would be 89.1 percent. Austrian-born workers were discriminated against less (5.1 percent), but women significantly more often (7.4 percent) than men (3.1 percent). More than every second woman born in Austria (53.1 percent) cited gender as the main reason for the discrimination.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
